


Can't Buy Me Love

by kawaiidonut



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: BDSM, Barebacking, Human!Clear, Lapdance, M/M, Minor Character Death, Morning Sex, Pool Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Sex Toys, Student!Aoba, actual porn, also he's poor, aoba in a skirt, as in a college student, like video porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-03-16 08:51:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 67,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3482060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawaiidonut/pseuds/kawaiidonut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clear is extremely poor and, on top of working two jobs, he sings and plays guitar on the street for money. Aoba is a rich kid who thinks Clear deserves a little more than a few coins tossed into his umbrella.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i was planning on taking a break from writing for a while, but then i got this idea and i couldn't stop myself lmao. i hope you guys like it! :)

Aoba barely had time to grab his school bag before leaving his apartment. He always valued sleep more than anything in the morning, which made him pressed for time more often than not. It hadn't been his choice to go to college in the first place, though, so maybe that's where his lack of enthusiasm came from? Either way, he would never hear the end of it from his parents if he flunked out halfway through his third year. After all, they were the ones paying for it!

Deciding not to risk waiting for the elevator, he stomped down the stairs and left the building, nearly sprinting down the street. Though he was in a rush, he slowed down when his ears picked up the familiar sound of folk music being sung by the most beautiful voice he had ever heard.

Searching the busy sidewalk, he saw (for the twelfth time, now) a white-haired man, probably no older than Aoba himself, playing a guitar with an upturned umbrella open beside him. He was really cute, despite his ratty clothes, and Aoba had kind of developed a bit of a crush on him.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to do something he'd wanted to do for the past week or so. He had always thrown a coin or two in the umbrella as he passed him by each morning, but he felt like he needed to do something more. So he walked over, digging his wallet out of his bag. He then bent over and placed a ¥5000 bill in his umbrella.

The man kept strumming his guitar, but he stopped singing to protest. "Sir! T-That's too much money!"

"You make my walk to class a little more enjoyable," Aoba shrugged. "You deserve fair compensation for your work, right?"

The man positively beamed at him. "Thank you so much!" He started singing again with more passion.

Aoba smiled back, walking away after a moment. It really wasn't a big deal to carelessly give away that sum of money. He could have give more, really, but he wanted to give him even more tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. Besides, the cutie really did make Aoba's walk to school more pleasant, and he could still hear his song even though he was several metres away.

*      *      *

He made it to class fifteen minutes late, so he snuck in as discreetly as he could, sitting beside his friends.

"You're late," Koujaku whispered. "Why are you late?"

"Too busy sucking dick?" Noiz snickered under his breath.

"Shut up. I slept in, so what?" He huffed and got his Macbook out. "Have you taken any notes yet?"

"Yeah, you can copy them." Koujaku turned his laptop so Aoba could see the screen. "But this is the last time! I can't keep enabling you like this."

Aoba tried to pay attention to the lecture, but he couldn't stop thinking about the guy on the street from that morning. He didn't look entirely homeless, so Aoba wondered why he was out there. Did he have a job, too? Or was busking his main source of income? Was he single? Would he be interested in going on a date with Aoba?

So many questions, and just not enough answers.

Aoba drifted in a half-awake state through two more lectures before he headed back home to take a nap. On his way, he kept an eye (and an ear) out for his distant crush. Unfortunately, he wasn't out there anymore. Maybe it was because of the rain?

More than slightly disappointed, he decided to go inside a nearby coffee shop to wait out the weather.

Walking up to the counter, he took out his wallet and looked at the menu instead of the worker on the other side. "Uh, can I get a medium chai latte please?"

"Yep!" The barista chirped, tapping at the till screen. Aoba looked down and saw a familiar (and incredibly blinding) smile.

"Oh, hey! You're the guy with the guitar! You work here?"

"Yes, I do!" He laughed. "But I prefer Clear," he joked, pointing at his nametag.

"Clear," Aoba echoed, really only to feel the word in his mouth. "Do you remember me?"

"Of course I do!" He nodded. "Thank you again so much for the donation! You have no idea what it meant to me."

"Honestly, it wasn't a big deal at all." Aoba felt his face get hot. "I really do like your singing."

Clear (impossibly) smiled even brighter. Then, as if he suddenly remembered he had a job to do, he looked at the screen and said, "That'll be ¥580!"

"Right," Aoba mumbled, digging around for some change. He handed it over to Clear, who put it in the register.

"Can I have your name to write on the cup?"

"It's Aoba."

"Alrighty, Aoba! I'll just be a second." He winked and turned away.

As Aoba waited for his drink, he noticed that the coffee shop was mostly empty, aside from the two of them and an old man reading a book in the corner. What were the chances that he would run into Clear here? Aoba felt like it must have been fate.

"Here you go! One chai latte."

"Um." Aoba looked at the size of the cup. "I only paid for a medium."

"I know!" He held it out to him. "Don't worry, we won't get in trouble."

Aoba took it warily. "Thank you."

"You're welcome!" He giggled. "Have a nice day."

Aoba was too tongue-tied to do anything but nod and smile before he turned to leave. He was happy to see that the rain had stopped.

When he was finally home, he snuggled into his obnoxiously large bed and checked his phone to see if he had any messages. His mother had left a voicemail a few hours ago, so he called her. She picked up after three rings.

"Aoba! How are you, darling?"

"I'm fine. Why did you call me earlier?"

"I just wanted to check up on you! More specifically, though..." She paused, then spoke with a quieter voice. "Do you need us to wire you some more money?"

"Uh, actually, I probably do."

"Is ¥100,000 alright?"

Aoba loved his mother. "Yeah, that'll be enough for now."

"Alright! I'll do that later today." She made a kissing noise into the phone. "Love you!" Then she hung up.

Carelessly throwing his phone on the floor, Aoba sighed. As much as he appreciated what his parents did for him, he wished it didn't always have to be about money. Why couldn't his mother have just called to hear about his day? But at least she _called_. If his father ever needed anything, he had Aoba's brother, Sei, pass the message along. Sei was one of the only people in his family that he ever actually talked to, aside from his Granny, who called him every so often.

He could always talk to Koujaku and Noiz if he needed someone, but since they'd discovered their feelings for one another, they were a little preoccupied. They were still there for him, of course, but Aoba couldn't help but feel like a third wheel.

Unsure of how to cure his boredom, he let his mind wander. The place it wanted to go, it seemed, was towards thoughts of Clear. He was mysterious, that was for sure, but Aoba was sure there was another reason why he was so attracted him. He couldn't exactly put his finger on it, but something told Aoba that he shouldn't let Clear drift in and out of his life like he usually did with people.

He rolled around on his bed, frustrated that he couldn't stop thinking. He hated living alone sometimes. Maybe he should get a dog or something? He pulled his laptop on his bed and started researching apartment-friendly dog breeds to distract himself.

*      *      *

Clear hadn't been on the sidewalk the next day, so Aoba made it to class on time. Which was good, because he knew Koujaku had been serious about not letting him use his notes.

"You don't have a class after this today, right?" Koujaku asked once the lecture was over.

"No, why?"

"There's a used bookstore that just opened a few days ago, and I wanted to go check it out."

"A used bookstore?" Aoba wrinkled his nose. "I'm sure you can afford normal books."

Koujaku scoffed. "Do you see my watch? Of course I can afford new books." He raised his nose in the air. "I just think used books have a lot more charm."

"Ha," Noiz snickered. "Gay."

"I'm literally your boyfriend. You're gay, too, dumbass."

"Fuck off." He slung his bag over his shoulder. "But I guess I'll go with you."

"Of course you will," Koujaku teased, kissing Noiz on the cheek. Noiz huffed and rolled his eyes, but Aoba was pretty sure he was blushing.

The three of them piled into Koujaku's car and he drove them to the store. Noiz and Koujaku both had (very expensive) cars, but Aoba didn't because he lived close enough to the university to walk there every day. He also didn't have his license, but that wasn't important.

"Hello!" The store clerk chimed as they walked in. "Welcome to--" He cut himself off abruptly. "Aoba!"

Oh, no. Aoba looked over to find Clear's adorable face smiling warmly at him.

"You know this guy?" Koujaku asked him discreetly. "He looks...less fortunate."

"Uh, not really. But you guys go ahead, I'll catch up."

Koujaku shrugged and pulled Noiz with him, mumbling something about going to find the romance section.

Once he was sure they were out of earshot, he turned to Clear. "You work here, too?"

"Yes! I don't get enough hours at the coffee shop, so I also work here." He rocked back and forth on his heels (which made Aoba notice that one of his shoes had a hole in it). "Was your chai latte alright yesterday?"

Aoba looked at the floor. "Uh, yeah, it was fine."

"Only fine?"

Aoba rolled his eyes. "It was the best goddamn chai tea latte I've ever had." He shared a laugh with Clear. "But I should, uh..." He pointed his thumb in the direction that his friends had gone.

"Oh! Of course. If you need any help, you know where to find me."

Aoba met up with Koujaku and Noiz, then. They were looking through a box of trashy romance novels.

"Who was that?" Noiz asked.

Koujaku grimaced. "His shirt had a rip in it, did you see that?"

"I don't really know him." Aoba shrugged.  
"He works at a coffee shop, too, so that's how he knows my name."

"Two jobs?!" Koujaku put a hand to his chest in shock.

Aoba sighed as he listened to his friends talk about how _absolutely tragic_ it must have been to work not one, but _two_ minimum wage jobs! Yes, the three of them were wealthy. So were all of their other friends. But why did that mean they had to be so snobby? There was nothing wrong with Clear. So what if he was poor? Aoba shouldn't have to feel embarrassed to be associated with him. (He was, anyway).

When they were ready to leave, Aoba said he would walk home. His apartment wasn't far from the shop, and he said he wanted the exercise so Koujaku wouldn't feel bad about not giving him a ride.

Once he was sure that they were gone, he slinked back into the store. Clear looked up from the book he was reading, face breaking into a smile when he realized who it was.

"What brings you back in here?"

Aoba shrugged. "I figured I'd keep you company for a little while. It must be boring in here, all alone, right?"

Clear dog-eared the page and set his book down on the counter he was leaning against. "Yes, it does. An eight-hour shift here feels like an eternity."

"Eight hours?!"

Clear laughed. "It's a long time, but it's worth it."

"Why do you need to work so much?" Aoba asked, vaguely realizing that he was being kind of invasive.

"Well, um..." Clear rubbed the side of his neck. "My grandfather fell ill a while ago, and treatments are expensive."

"And you're the one that has to pay for it?"

"We don't have any other family. It's just the two of us." He swallowed. "We've always struggled financially, and now that he can't work...I'm the one left responsible."

"Oh my God," Aoba whispered. "That's awful. I'm so sorry."

Clear waved his hand. "It's fine, really."

Now Aoba felt terrible for bringing it up. Why did he have to let his curiosity get the best of him?

"So," he started, trying to change the subject, "how long have you lived here?"

"Pretty much all my life," Clear smiled. "What about you?"

"Uh, just for the past few years." He shuffled his feet. "I came here for school."

"Oh? What are you studying?"

"Law."

"Do you like it?"

"Not really," he shrugged. "But my parents are both really big lawyers so they kind of...made me do it, I guess? And my brother's doing the same thing, so I think they want us to end up working for them or something."

Clear nodded. "That's too bad."

"Yeah." They were quiet, then, and it made Aoba uncomfortable, so he tried to fill the silence. "So, tell me about yourself! How old are you? What do you do for fun?"

"I'm twenty-three years old, and I guess, uh, I like to sing? But that's also kind of my job." He hummed. "What about you?"

"I'm twenty-two, and, um..." Aoba thought for a moment. "I don't really have any hobbies."

"There must be something you do." He looked at the books beside him. "Do you ever read?"

"Not really, no. I like reading, I just haven't found anything recently that I want to read."

"Well, look around! There are thousands of books in here."

Aoba crossed his arms over his chest. "I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Why don't we start with the ones I've read? I'll tell you about them."

Aoba paid attention as Clear went through the pile of books on the counter, describing each one and even reading a few excerpts to him. Aoba thought it was really cute, the way Clear's eyes lit up when he read, bringing the words to life. He even did different voices for the characters, which made Aoba giggle.

"What time are you done work?" Aoba asked suddenly.

"Four-thirty. What time is it?"

Aoba checked his watch. "Ten to four." He swallowed. "Do you, maybe, want to...do something after?"

Clear's face was a picture of shock. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." Aoba worried for a moment that he had been reading this whole thing wrong, that Clear didn't actually like him, that he was just being nice out of obligation for the money Aoba gave him.

But then Clear smiled and said, "Sure!" and Aoba's worries dissipated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba and Clear get to know each other a little better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic is turning out to be longer than i expected?? but it won't be as long as my other one lmao. anyway here's the next chapter! (」・ω・)」

For the past two weeks, Aoba had been consistently putting a substantial amount of money in Clear's umbrella every time he saw him playing on the street. But he still felt like it wasn't enough to show Clear how much he liked him.

So, one morning on his way to class, he stuffed his usual donation back in his wallet and crossed his arms, staring at Clear with determination. "Get up."

"W-What? Why?"

"You're coming with me."

"To...your school?"

"No. I'm ditching." He held his hand out to help Clear up. "It's devastating to see you dressed so terribly. Do you spend any of the money I give you on yourself?"

"Not...really," he admitted. "Grandfather needs it more than I do."

"That's what I thought." Aoba hummed. "But if I spend my money on you instead of just giving it to you, you'll have no choice, right?"

"Um...I guess not. What are you saying?"

"I'm taking you shopping."

Clear blinked, then looked down at his guitar. "Where am I going to put my stuff?"

"We can stop at my apartment on the way. You can leave it there."

Clear stood up and put his instrument in its case. "You know, you really don't have to--"

"Shut up." Aoba folded Clear's umbrella and picked it up. "I don't do things that I don't wanna do."

After a brief stop at Aoba's apartment (which would have been briefer had Clear not freaked out about how big it was), they headed to the area Aoba always went to when he went shopping. The two of them got a few weird looks as they started to enter the wealthier part of the city, but Aoba didn't care.

As long as he didn't see anyone he knew.

"Ooh!" Aoba squealed when he saw a familiar storefront. "Let's go in here!"

"A-Aoba, it looks kind of expensive--"

Aoba cut Clear off by glaring daggers at him. "I. Want. To. Spend. My. Money. On. You. Okay? Stop whining."

"But...won't I stand out?"

"What?"

"I look poor. Won't people notice?"

"Well, yeah, I guess, but...as long as you don't mind, it doesn't really matter, right?"

Clear reluctantly nodded and followed Aoba into the store.

Aoba had intended on letting Clear pick some clothes out for himself, but then he saw a rack of sweaters that would look _so good_ on Clear, and then some pants, and then a jacket and four shirts and soon enough Clear had a pile of clothes in his arms so tall that he couldn't see over it.

"Now you get to try all of it on!" Aoba exclaimed. "I'll come with you in case you need a different size or something." He sat on a chair in front of the fitting room while Clear went in. He twiddled his thumbs, listening to the sound of clothes rustling as Clear changed. The door slowly opened after a few minutes.

"What do you think?" Clear asked sheepishly, arms folded over his stomach. He was wearing the same ratty jeans he had on earlier, but he had put on the red-and-black colourblock sweater Aoba had thrown at him. The contrast of the dark colours against his pale colouring was striking, and Aoba had to clear his dry throat before answering.

"It looks good on you."

"R-Really?" He reached a hand up to scratch his head. The movement caused the sweater to ride up, giving Aoba a glimpse of his happy trail.

"Yeah." He licked his lips without really thinking about it. "Now hurry up and try the rest of it on! We have other places to go, too."

"We do?"

"Yes!" He barked, clapping his hands twice. "Go!"

They went to a shoe store afterwards, because Clear apparently only had one pair, and they had a hole worn into them. Aoba also learned that Clear didn't have a cell phone, so he bought him one (despite Clear's incessant protesting that it was _way too much!_ ). He dragged him to store after store after store and bought him things until even _he_ agreed that it was enough.

"Thank you so much, really," Clear said as they rode in a taxi back to their respective homes (because Aoba was absolutely not making Clear carry all that stuff on the bus with him).

"It was nothing." Aoba shrugged, looking out the window. He turned when he felt a gentle tug at his arm and found himself staring directly into Clear's almost-teary eyes.

"I mean it," he nearly whispered. "Thank you."

Aoba blushed. "You're welcome."

They shared a moment which was broken after only a few seconds when the driver stopped the car in front of a very shabby-looking house. Since Aoba was paying for the taxi, he had told the driver to take Clear home first. In truth, Aoba hadn't actually needed to have gone with Clear in the cab. They had stopped by Aoba's apartment so Clear could pick up his stuff anyway, so he could have just given him money for the ride and stayed home, but he secretly wanted the extra few minutes with Clear.

"Is this your house?"

"Yes, it is." He leaned in and kissed Aoba on the cheek. "Thank you so much for everything today. You have no idea what it means to me."

Aoba stammered, nearly sweating from the heat in his face. "R-Really, it's not a p-problem."

Clear stroked a hand over Aoba's cheek, smiling softly, before thanking the driver and getting out of the car.

Aoba had a dopey grin on his face all the way home.

*     *     *

After school a few days later, Aoba decided to stop at the cafe he had seen Clear working at before. It wasn't that he wanted an excuse to run into Clear, it was just that...he liked the way he made drinks? Yeah, that was it.

The bell above the door rang as he walked in, and he met eyes with Clear from several feet away. Aoba felt a spark in his chest when Clear beamed at him, and he couldn't help grinning back.

"Aoba! It's nice to see you."

"Nice to see you, too," he said as he dug through his pockets for some change. He ordered the same thing as last time and paid, then waited for Clear to finish. There was a lineup behind him and he didn't want to linger, so he left after getting his drink and thanking Clear.

Once he was outside again, he wondered if Clear had written anything on his cup this time, or if he had only done it the first time so he could have an excuse to get his name. He checked the side, nearly dropping the cup when he saw that Clear had written "Aoba" with a million little hearts around it, alongside his cell number.

Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck. Aoba's head was going to explode! How could one person be so cute?

He had to tell someone about what was going on with Clear, so when he got back to his apartment, he opened his laptop and video called his brother. Sei was one of the few people who wouldn't judge him for being friends with a less-wealthy person.

"Hey, bitch!" Aoba greeted, laughing, when Sei answered the call.

"What's up, slut?"

"Oh my God, I have to tell you about this guy."

"A guy?" Sei leaned forward and raised his eyebrows. "Go on."

Aoba told him all about how he saw Clear singing on the street, and how he took him shopping, and how he ran into Clear at both of his jobs.

"You ran into him twice?" Sei asked in awe. "It must be destiny or something!"

"I know! And I went to see him at the coffee shop and he wrote this on my cup," Aoba told him, lifting the cup to the webcam.

Sei gasped. "Are those little hearts?"

"Yes!" Aoba almost-shrieked.

They chattered excitedly for a while before Sei had to go. Aoba closed his laptop and put it on the floor, then slumped back against his fluffy bed. He took a sip of his chai latte, unable to resist looking at the side of the cup again. The butterflies came back and he squealed out loud, knowing nobody could hear him.

He figured now was as good a time as any to add Clear's number to his contacts. He put it under the name "cutie" and sent him a message so he would have Aoba's number, too.

"Hey!! It's Aoba ;)." Before he sent it, he spent a while contemplating the winking face at the end. He ultimately sent it anyway, figuring it was time he reciprocated Clear's flirting.

Six hours later, as Aoba was working on an assignment, he got a reply from Clear.

"Hi Aoba! I see you got my message on your cup! Haha."

Aoba's heart thumped in excitement. "Yeah! I should have got your number sooner though. I don't know why I didn't do it the other day!"

"So what are you up to?"

"Nothing, really, just working on an assignment that's not due for another week. What about you?"

"I just finished work, so I'm just waiting for the bus!"

Aoba felt so nervous that his stomach burned as he sent his next message. "Do you want to go out or something?"

"Sure! What do you want to do?"

"Idk, what bus stop are you at? I'll meet you there."

Clear gave him the address, and Aoba changed into a cuter outfit before he left to meet him. When he got there, he saw Clear sitting on his guitar case, tapping his umbrella on the ground absently.

"Hey!" Aoba called, and Clear looked up. It was about seven o'clock in the evening, so the sun was setting. Clear looked stunning in the golden light of the sunset, and Aoba had to take a moment to appreciate him. He was wearing the jacket and the grid-print button up shirt Aoba had bought him the other day, and he looked really good. If Aoba didn't know him, he never would have guessed that he was poor.

"Aoba!" Clear exclaimed, standing up. "You look like an angel."

Aoba blushed and looked down at himself. He had a long ivory sweater on underneath a white coat, and white jeans with opaque lace panels down both sides. Monochromatic outfits were his current aesthetic, and he was glad that Clear liked it. "Thank you."

"So, where are we going?" Clear asked, slinging his guitar over his back and tucking his umbrella into the strap. He looked so cute, it made Aoba want to scream.

Aoba shrugged, looking around. "Are you hungry? I haven't eaten dinner yet."

"I haven't eaten yet, either. Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Sure, yeah."

Their hands bumped against each other as they walked, and Aoba managed to muster up the confidence to curl their pinky fingers together. Clear giggled a little bit and swung their partially-linked hands.

"So, how was school today?" Clear asked.

"Boring, like it always is. What about you? How was work?"

"It was alright," he shrugged. "People can be kind of harsh when it comes to their coffee, but I've learned to deal with it."

"Really? How so?"

Clear then dove into a rant about the worst customers he'd dealt with over the past week, to which Aoba listened dutifully. He watched Clear's face as he talked, almost mesmerized by his expressions.

Fuck. Aoba really had it bad for him.

"And this one guy comes in ten minutes into my shift, and starts going on about how he came in thirty minutes ago and asked for tea but he was given coffee instead. So I said, 'alright, that's fine, I'll make you another one.' And he goes, 'well, aren't you going to apologize?' So I said, 'Of course, I'm sorry you weren't satisfied.' And he says, 'no, no, don't give me that. It was you that gave me the wrong drink. I remember you.' And I was completely shocked, and I was like, 'I'm not trying to be disrespectful, sir, but my shift started ten minutes ago, and you're the first customer I've seen today.'"

"So, what did he say?"

"He was like, 'oh, so you're calling me a liar now?' and 'you're lucky your manager isn't here right now, or I'd have you fired' and all that. He probably popped a blood vessel from yelling so hard!"

"How can people be so mean to you?" Aoba put his unoccupied hand on Clear's bicep and rubbed it soothingly (noting in the back of his mind how firm it was).

Clear chuckled. "It's not that bad, really. I guess it's just part of the job."

Aoba really wanted french fries, so Clear suggested they go to a kind of shady-looking diner that Aoba normally wouldn't be caught dead in. But it wasn't like he would run into anybody there, so he was alright with it.

They ordered and Aoba reached for his wallet to pay, but Clear stopped him, pulling his own wallet out.

"W-What are you doing?"

"It's the least I can do after all you've done for me, right?"

The cashier was watching them with interest.

Aoba sighed, realizing that Clear probably felt like he was a financial burden on Aoba or something. He put his wallet away and gestured for Clear to go ahead.

When they got their food, they carried it to a booth in the corner with the fewest people. Clear slid in on one side and Aoba, feeling a little bit daring, sat beside him. Clear looked at him, a little bit shocked, but Aoba just smiled and scooted in closer.

While they ate, they talked casually about their day-to-day lives. Aoba told Clear about his recent assignments and his friends and the new hair mask he had been using (which Clear said must have been doing its job), and Clear told Aoba about his work-friends and the old ladies that flirt with him in the morning and how he had been learning to play the harmonica. Aoba noticed that Clear's arm was draped around his waist, and he couldn't remember exactly how it got there. He didn't mind, though.

Later, while Aoba was keeping Clear company as he waited for the bus, he put a hand on Clear's face to turn his head towards him.

"Thank you for the wonderful time," he smiled. "And for paying. I really appreciate it."

"I should be thanking you," Clear murmured, smiling down at him with a fond look in his eyes. Aoba smiled back, and his eyelids started to droop as their faces slowly gravitated towards each other. Clear's hands rose to gently cup his face as their noses bumped together.

The anticipation was too much, and Aoba was too impatient, so he slid his hand to the back of Clear's head and brought their lips together. A heat bloomed in his chest unlike anything he'd ever felt, and when Clear moved one arm to curl around his waist, Aoba felt so giddy and lightheaded that he almost laughed against Clear's mouth.

When they drifted apart, Clear leaned his forehead down against Aoba's, both of them giggling.

"Can I kiss you again?" Clear whispered.

"You can kiss me as much as you want to."

Clear laughed breathlessly and kissed Aoba again and again and again, nearly missing the bus when it pulled up.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Aoba asked before they let go of each other.

"Yes, I'll be outside in the morning." He pecked Aoba once more before getting on the bus. Aoba chuckled as he heard Clear apologising profusely to the bus driver for making him wait.

On Aoba's walk to school the next day, he received a wolf-whistle and an exclamation of "Hey there, sugar!" from Clear, which made him walk the rest of the way with a blush on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there are sexy times ahead hehehehehe (ヾ;￣▽￣)ヾ


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clear and Aoba spend their first night together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhh. ok here it is

Once he and Clear had officially become a _thing,_ Aoba wondered if it was weird for him to keep throwing large amounts of money in Clear's umbrella as he stopped to listen to him in the morning. So, for the past few weeks, he had been occasionally giving him things instead of money. One morning he had brought him coffee in a travel mug. Another time, he had draped a new scarf over his neck (hopefully to replace the dirty old one he still insisted on wearing).

But that morning, he was feeling particularly romantic, so he crouched down beside Clear and pressed a gentle kiss to the side of his face.

"Text me when you're done work," he whispered into his ear.

Clear kept singing, but he changed the lyrics to tell Aoba that he looked more beautiful than the blooms in the window of the flower shop across the street.

Aoba blushed and kissed his temple before scrambling away, hoping he wasn't too late to class.

*     *     *

"What's up with you?" Koujaku asked after taking a sip of his smoothie. Friday afternoon smoothies were kind of an unspoken tradition for the three of them, and Aoba usually loved gossiping with his friends, but this time, he couldn't stop checking his phone.

"What? Me?" Aoba set his phone face-down on the table and vowed not to touch it for at least five minutes.

"Yeah, something seems different about you."

"He's right," Noiz agreed. "You look like you're waiting for someone to text you."

"Who is it?" He gasped. "Is it that guy who sat beside you in sociology the other day?"

"Did Trip and Virus finally convince you to have a three-way?"

Aoba grimaced. "Ew! Fuck, no! Absolutely not." He huffed. "It's just a guy. You don't know him."

Koujaku and Noiz looked at each other, seemingly having a conversation with only their eyes. Then they turned to Aoba at the same time. "Is it that guy from the bookstore?"

Aoba didn't say anything.

"Do you like him?"

"Or do you just feel bad for him because he's poor?"

Aoba glared, but his expression softened a moment later. "No, I...think I really like him."

Noiz looked at him seriously. "Really?"

Aoba shrugged and nodded at the same time. "Yeah."

"That's fantastic!" Koujaku beamed, face breaking into a smile.

Aoba was flabbergasted. "You guys are okay with this?"

"Yeah," Koujaku said like it was obvious. "We're not _total_ dicks, Aoba."

Noiz smirked. "Well, _he_ is, but we wouldn't judge you on something like that."

"You think I'm a dick?"

"Are you fucking kidding me? Of course you are."

Koujaku stared incredulously at his snickering boyfriend for a moment. _"Anyway,"_ he said pointedly, _"we_ might be okay with it, but everyone else probably won't be, so...maybe we'll keep it between us?"

"Yeah," Noiz agreed, nodding. "I mean, it sucks, but our friends really care about stuff like that."

"And you can't tell your parents!"

"Fuck, he's right. Your dad would probably have a heart attack or something."

Aoba heaved a sigh. He knew all along that he wouldn't be able to let anyone know what was going on between him and Clear. True, he could lie to everyone and tell them he wasn't poor, but what if someone he knew saw Clear working or singing on the street? Aoba didn't want to risk getting caught up in a lie like that.

Koujaku, obviously having noticed how crestfallen Aoba was, changed the subject. He started talking about the romance novel he'd been reading recently and how corny the sex scenes were, which took Aoba's mind completely off of his current dilemma.

*     *     *

It was nine o'clock when Aoba finally got a text from Clear.

"I'm finally off work :)!"

"Are you too tired to hang out?"

"No, not at all! But it might be a bit late, don't you think?"

Aoba braced himself to send his next message. "You could come over and stay the night."

"I don't have any of my things with me, though."

"It's fine, I have spare toothbrushes and stuff."

"Are you sure that's alright?"

"Yeah. It'll be nice to spend some time together alone, right?"

"Of course! I don't remember exactly where you live, though."

Aoba sent him his address and gave him some general directions. Clear said he would probably be there in fifteen minutes, so Aoba scrambled out of bed and changed into a nicer outfit before racing around his apartment to clean up a bit. He was well aware that inviting Clear over to spend the night probably meant that something was going to happen, but he figured it was about time they reached that stage. They had been seeing each other for about a month, but they had never spent a night together, which was mostly because Aoba was nervous. He had a kind of...intimate problem that he was anxious for Clear to find out about, so he had put off sleeping with Clear for as long as he could. But now, he felt ready.

He was rearranging the throw pillows on his couch for the fourth time when Clear buzzed the doorbell.

"Hello?" Aoba said into the speaker.

"It's Clear!"

"Alright," Aoba replied as he opened the door for him. Clear knocked on his door a few minutes later, so Aoba let him in. Aoba noticed he was wearing his new flannel plaid shirt (a replacement for his old one).

"Hey there," Aoba greeted, putting one hand on Clear's shoulder and the other on his waist.

Clear leaned down and kissed him on the lips. "Thanks for inviting me over."

Aoba saw the guitar strap across Clear's chest. "Do you always carry that around with you?"

"It would be silly to take it all the way home before going to work, so I just bring it with me and keep it in the back room." He looked past Aoba at the apartment. "Wow! It looks even better in here than I remembered."

"Do you want me to show you around?"

"Sure!"

Aoba gave him the grand tour, and Clear oohed and ahhed with enthusiasm at the sheer size of the apartment. The tour ended at the large picture window near the living area, which showcased a stunning view of the city.

"It's so beautiful," Clear cooed as he took in the sight. Then he turned to Aoba and reached a hand out to his face, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. "But it's nowhere near as beautiful as you."

Aoba blushed and leaned into his touch, smiling at him fondly. "You're too sweet."

"I mean it," Clear whispered, pulling Aoba into his arms, and Aoba let himself get swept away as their lips slid together in a heated kiss. He ran his hands through Clear's hair and sighed against his lips as they twined their tongues together.

They broke apart, panting, looking into each other's eyes with an unspoken question between them.

"I really like you," Clear confessed. "A lot."

Aoba smiled, blushing a little bit. "I really like you a lot, too."

Clear kissed him again, then, this time with his hands slowly sliding down from Aoba's waist to his hips. He leaned back from their kiss to ask in a tentative voice, "Is that okay?"

"Yes. This is okay, too," he whispered, raising an eyebrow as he moved Clear's hands back until they were resting on his ass. Clear made a slight sound of surprise, but he didn't move away. On the contrary; he leaned back down and brought their mouths together again.

Aoba ran a hand down Clear's chest as they slowly kissed, then rested it on his waist, gingerly touching the spot where his shirt had ridden up to expose a few inches of his skin. He pushed it up a little bit further.

As much as Aoba really loved that shirt on Clear, he also really wanted to see what was underneath, so he started to unbutton it slowly. As the fabric parted and Clear's (surprisingly defined) upper body was exposed, Aoba started to feel an intense aching between his legs. He pushed the flannel off Clear's shoulders and gingerly placed a hand on his abs, making an embarrassing sound in the back of his throat as his fingers came into contact with the warm skin.

"Wow."

"What?" Clear looked down at himself. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, absolutely not," Aoba breathed, shaking his head slowly from side to side. "You're just, uh... You're really hot."

Clear blushed, then reached for the hem of Aoba's shirt. "Is it alright if I take yours off, too?"

Aoba nodded and raised his arms. He was a bit nervous because he wasn't anywhere near as built as Clear was, but he wanted their clothes out of the way, so he decided to just suck it up. Clear slid his hands up Aoba's shirt before peeling it away from his torso. Aoba lifted his arms dutifully, and after a flash of fabric over his head, his sweater was on the floor. He pulled Clear into his arms so they could feel each other's skin more intimately, breaths becoming slightly laboured as he felt Clear's hands caressing down his back.

"I want you," Aoba mumbled against Clear's neck. He moaned in the back of his throat when he felt Clear's hand squeeze his ass, thumbs rubbing circles into the fabric of his jeans.

"Make that sound again," Clear whispered so quietly that Aoba wasn't sure he'd heard him right.

"W-What?"

"That little sound you just made," Clear smiled. "It was cute. I want you to make it again."

Aoba took a deep breath, astounded at what he was about to say. "Then make me make it again."

Accepting the challenge, Clear moved one hand to Aoba's waist, rubbing circles into the soft skin of his abdomen before moving it further up to massage his chest. Much to his delight, Aoba made _that sound_ again when he circled his thumb over his nipple and squeezed his ass particularly hard at the same time.

Having had enough of all the one-sidedness, Aoba placed a kiss on the moles on Clear's chin before descending to his neck, nibbling and sucking on the pale skin until it bruised. Clear groaned quietly and his hand tangled in Aoba's hair, pushing him further against his neck.

"Wait, stop for a second," Clear said in a breathy voice.

Aoba pulled away from his neck to look at him, though he didn't move out of their hold. "What is it?"

"I just want to know, um...how far do you want to go?"

Aoba blushed and looked out the window. "I don't mind doing all of it."

Clear made a choking sound. "All of it?"

"Yeah," Aoba said in a hushed whisper, looking at Clear through his eyelashes. "I want to do all of it with you."

"O-Okay." Clear swallowed. "I want to do it, too."

They held each other's gazes for a while, seemingly unsure of how to continue. Aoba made the first move, dragging one finger across the waistband of Clear's pants, stopping once it reached the button. He tried to resist licking his lips as he eyed the bulge that was straining the fabric.

"You should take those off," Aoba whispered in a voice that he couldn't believe was his.

Clear's breath hitched, but one side of his lips curled up in a smile. "You should, too."

"I asked you first."

Clear chuckled under his breath and undid his belt, then the fly of his pants. Aoba's face felt hot as he saw how the black fabric of Clear's underwear was pulled so taut from the swell of his cock that the waistband was lower than it should have been, giving him an eyeful of the white hair that gathered at the base of his cock. His throat felt dry, suddenly, and he swallowed.

Aoba looked up at Clear's face as he pushed his clothes down his legs and kicked them away. He didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable, after all, by blatantly staring at his dick.

"Your turn," Clear teased, though the tone in his voice didn't match his playful words.

Avoiding Clear's gaze, Aoba worked his pants and underwear off at the same time as quickly as he could. When he was done, he turned to look at Clear reluctantly, finding him just as red-faced as Aoba surely was himself.

Clear smiled at him, running the back of his hand down Aoba's cheek as he slowly started to move his gaze downwards. Aoba watched his face to gauge his reaction, and he was kind of embarrassed to find that Clear was looking at his body like he wanted to devour it. While Clear was preoccupied, Aoba let his curiosity get the best of him and he decided to check out what exactly Clear had to offer.

"Fuck," Aoba couldn't help cursing under his breath as he took in the sight of Clear's very impressive cock. It suddenly occurred to him, then, that this gorgeous stallion of a man was here in front of him, ready and willing to do whatever he desired.

He looked back up to Clear's face, and Clear looked at him, too. Then they leaned in at the same time to kiss, but this kiss was different than the ones before it; this one was intimate and vulnerable and seeking some kind of confirmation.

Clear slid his shaking hands back around to grip Aoba's ass, but this time there was no fabric to keep him from feeling the warm skin. Aoba gasped when he felt Clear's fingertips sink into his flesh, squeezing experimentally. In response, Aoba put his hands on Clear's hips, rubbing the V-shaped ridge there with his thumbs. He then brought one hand up to the side of Clear's face and slid it downwards, slowly, over his chest and the grooves of his abs, through his pubic hair before tentatively taking his pulsing cock into his hand, feeling the weight of it. It looked really appealing, and he was tempted to get on his knees and put his mouth on it, but he knew they would have time for that later, in the future. He didn't need to do everything tonight; he just wanted to get to know Clear's body, and he wanted Clear to do the same to him. So he just stroked him a few times, enjoying the look on Clear's face as he did. But he let go of him after only a minute or two.

"Stay here for a second," Aoba whispered, hands rubbing at Clear's hips again. "I'll be right back."

He kissed him once more before turning to go to his bedroom. He knew Clear would be staring at his ass while he walked away, but instead of being embarrassed and shy, he swung his hips a little as he walked. Once he was in his room, he grabbed his lube, a condom, some tissues, a pillow and the comforter off his bed. He dragged the blanket behind him as he walked back to Clear, rather than covering himself up with it. He then dumped it on the floor in a big fluffy pile and sat in the middle of it, dragging a giggling Clear down with him.

Clear didn't protest when Aoba took his hand into his own and brought the bottle of lube to his fingers. Before he squeezed some out, though, he said, "I, um...I kind of only like being on the receiving end. Is that alright with you?"

"Of course," Clear nodded. "But...what do you mean when you say you 'only like' it?"

This was embarrassing for Aoba to admit, and only his two best friends in the whole world and a handful of his ex-partners knew this about him, but...he needed to tell Clear, so he took a deep breath and spat it out. "I can't do it the other way."

Clear didn't seem fazed. "That's fine! But, just out of curiosity...why can't you?"

"I know this sounds weird, but..." He put his face in his hands, blushing. "When it comes to topping, I can't...get it up. It doesn't have anything to do with who I'm with, or what the circumstances are. I just...can't do it." He peeked out from between his fingers timidly. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"No! No, not at all!" Clear assured, frantically shaking his head and waving his hands. "If you don't like doing something, I'd never ask you to do it!" He pulled Aoba's hands away from his face and held them. "I prefer topping most of the time, anyway."

Aoba wasn't sure that Clear understood how serious he was. "What if you really want to bottom one day? I won't be able to do that for you."

Clear smiled. "That's what toys are for, right?"

Aoba sputtered as his mind conjured up images of how they could both be penetrated at the same time. "That's...true."

"I mean it, Aoba." Clear looked at him seriously. "If it means being with you, I don't care if I ever do it like that again."

Hearing Clear say that made Aoba's heart swell in his chest. In the past, his partners had laughed at him or made him feel like less of a man because of his problem. But Clear made him feel like it wasn't a problem at all.

So Aoba coated Clear's fingers in the lubricant and spread his own legs so he could have easier access. Clear took a moment to appreciate what Aoba was showing him before he started to work his fingers inside.

"Mmn," Aoba mumbled as he relaxed against the intrusion.

"Is it...alright?"

"Yeah, it doesn't hurt or anything." Aoba made a little sound when Clear twisted his finger the right way. "Give me another."

After only a few minutes, Aoba was moaning and softly rocking against the three fingers curling inside of him. Clear was watching him closely, incredibly turned on by the sight of Aoba going wild for his touch.

"Come on," Aoba whined impatiently, looking up at Clear seductively. "I want to feel every inch of you inside of me."

Struck by Aoba's words, Clear hurriedly rolled the condom on and slicked himself with lube. "Is it alright if I go in now?"

Aoba chuckled a little bit and he patted Clear's shoulder. "Yes."

So Clear positioned himself at Aoba's entrance and, _very_ slowly, pushed his way inside.

"Fuck," he hissed, drawing the word out as he was sucked into Aoba's tight heat. Once he was all the way in, he asked, "Are you alright?"

Aoba made a small sound of discomfort. "Mostly, yeah." At this stage in his life, his body was pretty used to being penetrated, and he usually didn't experience much pain during the act, but Clear was just _so_ big that he needed to take a moment to adjust.

"Just tell me when you're ready," Clear said, panting heavily. His eyes were slightly unfocused as he looked at Aoba, but Aoba could still see the concern in them.

After a minute of controlled breathing, Aoba wrapped his legs around Clear's hips, visibly more relaxed. 'I'm ready."

Clear rocked his hips gently at first, as if he was afraid of breaking the man beneath him. But as Aoba began to whimper and gasp and rake his fingernails down Clear's back, he sped up his pace until he was thrusting with vigour. Aoba's whole body bounced along with the pace of Clear's movements, and he let himself melt, fully submitting to the pleasure Clear was giving him. He watched the way Clear sensually gyrated into him, listened to the breathy sounds he made, felt all over his upper body with his shaky hands. All he could think was _Clear, Clear, Clear,_ and it was only a moment before he was vocalizing his thoughts (rather loudly).

"Does it feel good?" Clear asked, though the look on his face suggested he already knew the answer.

"Yes, _fuck,"_ Aoba whined. "It's amazing, you're... _amazing,_ fuck!" He cried out when Clear thrusted particularly hard against his prostate. "You're _really_ good at this."

Clear placed one hand on the blanket beside Aoba's head to support himself. He put the other one on the underside of Aoba's thigh and pushed it down against his chest so he could go deeper. The new angle meant he was hitting his prostate more often, turning Aoba into a drooling, teary-eyed, overstimulated mess.

 _"Aoba..."_ Clear moaned, voice thick. "You look so beautiful like this." He kissed him, then; licking his way inside and sealing their open mouths together. They had to break apart for air after only a few seconds.

As Aoba shouted incoherently and practically melted into the floor, he could tell (even in his foggy mental state) that he was going to come soon. The only full word he could manage to say was Clear's name, so he whined it over and over and over again with urgency.

Clear didn't look like he was able to say much, either, so he nodded frantically and quickened his hips in an effort to bring them both to orgasm. They both moaned louder and louder and louder as their bodies wound up tightly before they finally released at the same time, crying out each other's names as the pleasure overwhelmed them.

They didn't move for a few minutes, Aoba limp against the blanket, Clear laying on top of him with his face buried in his neck.

"Fuck," Aoba mumbled once he remembered where he was. "Wow."

"Yeah."

_"Fuck."_

"I know."

Eventually, Clear sat up on his elbows and rolled off of Aoba, searching for the tissues. He cleaned the both of them up before pulling the blanket to cover them.

Once he was sure Clear was situated, Aoba used what little strength he had to slide over and snuggle up against him. He smiled and nuzzled in closer when Clear slid an arm around his waist.

"That was fantastic," he mumbled against Clear's chest. "Where did you learn to fuck like that?"

Clear laughed, and Aoba could feel the vibrations as he did. "I learned from experience, I guess."

Aoba was really jealous for a second, but then he remembered that _he_ was the one cuddling with Clear, and that _he_ was the one who Clear had just plowed into the floor, so he was the real winner. Right now, Clear was _his,_ and that was all that mattered.

"We should probably shower, right?" Clear suggested. "Or at least brush our teeth."

"No," Aoba whined. "I don't wanna get up. You're warm and my legs are tired."

"You don't care if you go to bed without brushing your teeth?"

"Ugh, fine." He sat up, though he kept the blanket around himself. "Let's go, then. Get up."

Once their teeth were brushed and they were cleaned up a little bit, they went back to the blanket lump in the living room (because Aoba didn't feel like making his bed).

After only a few minutes of blissful snuggling, they were asleep.

*     *     *

"Aoba?"

"Mmm?"

"What time is it?"

Aoba blinked his eyes open, then squinted at his phone. "Five o'clock."

"Already?" Clear groaned, starting to get up.

"Where are you going?" Aoba mumbled as he sat up, too, still half-asleep.

"I need to get out there and play." Clear sighed. "Believe me, I'd much rather stay here with you, but Grandfather really needs the money."

"Then stay here," Aoba said simply, shrugging one shoulder. "I'll give you however much you usually make."

Clear still looked unsure. "I don't feel right doing that."

"Play for me, then," Aoba suggested. "I'll only give you the money if you'll play for me."

Clear stood up, and Aoba thought for a second that he was getting up to leave, but Clear only picked up his guitar case and carried it to their makeshift bed. He sat back down, taking his instrument out and holding it in his lap. "Any requests?"

Aoba grinned and demanded that Clear play every song he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it took me so long to get this the way i wanted it ٩(๑`^´๑)۶
> 
> also if you thought i implied in this chapter that they're gonna use a double-ended dildo at some point in the future........theres a 99 percent chance you were right ☆(ゝε・`)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba spends some time alone, which prompts an important decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> w o w that took a really long time for me to update!! i am so sorry omfg, i'll try not to take so long next time!! i literally have no excuses, i just kept putting it off lmao.
> 
> anyway here it is!! I hope you enjoy lmao (＠°▽°＠)

It was Saturday, so Aoba didn't have school. Unfortunately, though, Clear had to work, so they couldn't do anything together. He suggested Aoba do something with his friends instead, but Koujaku and Noiz were busy, and Aoba didn't like his other friends enough to want to hang out with them outside of school. Clear felt really bad that he couldn't be with Aoba, so he promised if Aoba met him at the bookstore when his shift was over at six o'clock, then they could go out for dinner or something. Aoba thought that was a good idea.

So he spent the better part of the day alone, cleaning his apartment and doing some online shopping. He called his brother and talked to him for a while, and then he called his granny. Even after all of that, though, it was only three o'clock. He wished he had some kind of companion who would be at his apartment all the time, which made him remember his desire to get a dog.

He went out to several pet stores and he even went to the animal shelter to look at the different dogs. He found a few dogs at the shelter that caught his eye, but he wanted to get Clear's opinion before he picked one. It was open until nine o'clock, so Aoba figured he and Clear could go there once he was off work.

As he waited for Clear to finish closing up at the end of his shift at the bookstore, though, he got an idea. Leaning against the bookshelf on his hands to test it, he asked, "How much weight do you think these shelves could support?

"Hmm?" Clear looked up from the register, which he was in the middle of counting. "I don't know. Why?"

Aoba turned, looking at Clear from over his shoulder. "Do you think they'd be able to handle the force of two young, agile bodies grinding with passion, or do you think they would fall over?"

Clear fumbled and dropped a roll of coins into the tray, and the sound of change clinking reverberated in the quiet of the store. "What are you getting at?"

"I think you know what I'm getting at."

"But...why now? Why _here?"_

"I've never done it in an actual public place before, and you look _really_ good in those pants." He swayed over to Clear and slid his arms around his waist. "Stay here, I'll run over to the drugstore."

"Alright, I guess..."

Ten minutes later, Aoba was back in the bookstore with some lube, a box of condoms, and a partially-eaten tube of Pringles (because he was hungry).

"C'mon, baby," he coaxed, taking the lube from the bag and tossing it to Clear (who was so flustered he nearly dropped it).

"Um...Aoba..." Clear pointed to a black dome-shaped object affixed to the ceiling. "You know there are security cameras in here, right?"

"Really?" Aoba asked, voice breathy.

"Yes. Do you still want to...do it?"

"Yeah. That makes it kinda hotter, actually."

"It does?"

"Yeah! Knowing someone could see us...doesn't that turn you on?"

"Well," Clear laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know about that..."

"Just imagine," Aoba purred, moving in closer so he could hold Clear's hips in his hands. "You and me having really passionate sex, thinking we're alone, but...someone is secretly watching us, getting off on the sight of you fucking me into oblivion."

Clear had to clear his throat before speaking. "I can kind of see what you mean."

“Great! Let's do it.” He smiled and brought their lips together in a kiss that soon became very heated. Aoba hadn't forgotten that he wanted to make it to the animal shelter before it closed, so he only allowed enough foreplay to get the both of them sufficiently aroused. He let Clear grind their clothed cocks together for a while, but once Aoba felt Clear’s full hardness against him, he pulled away and started to undress. He didn't want to risk taking all his clothes off in case they got caught, so he just kicked his jeans and underwear off one leg. He stood facing the bookshelf, leaning against it with his hands as Clear fingered him. He slid each digit in slowly, one by one, swirling them around at an agonizingly teasing pace.

"Clear, c'mon...I'm still really hungry and I don't want to do this for an hour."

Aoba turned around once Clear was done stretching him out, finding that Clear had only undressed enough to take his cock out. Aoba watched, licking his lips, as Clear put the condom on and briefly stroked himself with lube. Aoba's hole throbbed as he eyed his cock, aching with the need to be filled by him.

"Alright...are you ready?"

Aoba nodded and held onto Clear's shoulders as he was lifted up against the shelf. He wrapped his legs around Clear's waist, helping to guide him inside.

"Fuck...!" Aoba cursed as he felt Clear's cock oh-so-slowly pushing inside. He pulled Clear's face towards him, leaning forward slightly and sliding their mouths together. They bit at each other's lips and moaned as Clear started to move his hips.

"Is the position okay?" Clear breathed, leaning his forehead against Aoba's. "Am I hurting you at all?"

"N-No, no, it's good," Aoba said, shaking his head. "But you could move a little bit faster."

Clear raised an eyebrow. "I could?"

"Yeah," Aoba purred, lips rubbing against Clear's as he spoke. "When I said I wanted you to _fuck_ me, I wasn't kidding."

They heatedly looked into each other's eyes as Clear started to fuck Aoba like he meant it, stepping one leg in closer so he had a greater range of motion.

Aoba rolled his head back against the books, crying out Clear's name amidst a sea of profanities. The shelf behind him was shaking along with the rhythm of Clear's thrusts, and a few books fell to the floor.

"W-Watch out!" Clear warned suddenly, but Aoba had no idea what he was talking about. He was about to inquire further when he was hit in the head by a paperback novel.

"Ack!" He cried, rubbing the spot where the book had bumped him.

Clear was obviously stifling a giggle. "Are you okay?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Aoba grumbled. "Just hurry up and screw me so we can go eat dinner."

After kissing Aoba sweetly on the nose as an apology, Clear began to thrust at a steady pace again, moving in long, deep strokes that hit Aoba in all the right spots.

Though Aoba was kind of mad that Clear had laughed at him, he couldn't ignore the way that he was making him feel, so he couldn't really help it that he mewled and grabbed at Clear's shoulders and let his body almost go limp from the pleasure.

Clear nudged Aoba's face with his nose. "Are you gonna come, sweetie?"

Aoba nodded, dragging Clear in for another kiss. They muffled their sounds against each other as the tension built and built and built. Aoba came first, scratching Clear's clothed chest and breaking their kiss so he could moan his name over and over again, twitching and spurting come on himself. The feeling of Aoba tightening around him brought Clear to climax, too; he squeezed his eyes shut and drove his hips in as far as they could go, making little cut-off gasping sounds as he came. Aoba _mmmed_ as he felt Clear pulsing deep inside of him.

Once Clear had recovered a little bit, he carefully pulled out and set Aoba on his feet. "Was that alright?"

Aoba reached his hands out clumsily and pulled Clear in for a messy kiss. "Better than alright."

Clear let go of Aoba to throw the condom away and tuck himself back into his pants. He turned to Aoba with a tissue in hand to clean him up, but was shocked at what he saw.

"Um. Aoba?"

"Yeah?" He was still blinking, eyes sleepy. "What?"

"You, uh...kind of came on your shirt."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Aoba snorted. "That's really funny."

Clear was definitely surprised that Aoba wasn't freaking out. Maybe his brain was still foggy from his orgasm?

"I'll give you my jacket. Come on, put your pants back on. I thought you were hungry?"

"I am," Aoba grumbled as he got dressed again, snapping out of his trance. He buttoned Clear's jacket up over his come-stained shirt and grabbed the drugstore bag from the counter before following Clear out of the store. He locked up and they were off in search of food.

As they walked, Aoba dug the tube of Pringles out of the bag, opening it and stuffing a few in his mouth. "Want some?" He mumbled as be chewed, offering the tube to Clear. Clear politely declined.

Aoba led them to a restaurant that was close to the animal shelter. He was extremely impatient as they waited for their food, and once they got it, he urged Clear to eat as quickly as he possibly could.

"What are you in such a rush for?"

"It's a surprise!" Aoba beamed, scarfing down his pasta. "But we have to get there soon!"

Despite Clear’s complaints, they sped through dinner and managed to make it to the shelter at a quarter after eight. Aoba was sure that would give them enough time to make a decision.

"Why are we at an animal shelter?" Clear asked, looking around in confusion.

"Because I'm getting a dog! Well, _we're_ getting a dog, but it's going to be staying with me." He pulled Clear's sleeve, leading him towards the area with the dogs. "I was looking at them earlier, and I narrowed it down to these three." He pointed at a brown poodle, a three-legged blue pomeranian, and a chihuahua with a cone around its neck. “Which one should we get?”

“I’m not sure. I do have a lot of experience on the subject, though…” Clear hummed in contemplation as he carefully studied each one. "The poodle has a very healthy coat, and the chihuahua seems to have good temperament...but, in my expert opinion, this one is the optimal choice." He pointed at the pomeranian. "He's the fluffiest."

"Really?" Aoba turned to Clear excitedly. "That's the one I like, too!"

The puppy wagged his tail and tried to jump up on his hind leg, but he couldn't balance and he fell over. The two _grown men_ giggled and squealed as they watched him wobble back onto his three feet, cheering as he finally stood up completely. Clear then put his fingers up to the cage, smiling as the dog licked them. "Aww, he likes us!"

Aoba chuckled. "We'll have to get him a prosthetic leg, but...it's worth it."

They talked to the girl at the front desk, and she got out the adoption paperwork.

"So, it's Ren you want, right?"

"His name is Ren?"

She checked the clipboard. "Yes, it is. But he's still a puppy; it isn't too late to change it."

Aoba looked at Clear. "I think Ren is fine. Don't you?"

Clear nodded.

It turned out that the shelter also sold pet supplies, so they got a pet carrier and some other necessities. Once Aoba had signed the papers and paid the fees, they went to get Ren out of his cage. The girl opened the cage and took him out, handing him to Clear while Aoba held the pet carrier open.

But Clear didn't put Ren in the carrier right away. He ran his fingers through Ren's fur and scruffed it up and giggled when Ren yipped excitedly. "Oh my gosh, Aoba, he's so cute!"

"Come on, put him in the cage."

"Aww, can't I just carry him? I won't drop him; I promise."

Aoba sighed. "I didn't know I was dating a man-child."

Clear pouted. "Fine, I'll put him in the carrier."

Aoba let Clear hold the carrier as they walked back to his apartment.

"Alright!" Aoba said once they were inside. "It's time."

"Time for what?"

"It's time to let him out!" Aoba beamed, gesturing to the cage. Clear set it on the floor and opened the little door. Ren gingerly stepped out, sniffing the air as he went. Like proud parents seeing their child walk for the first time, Clear and Aoba followed Ren as he limped around and slowly got used to the apartment.

"Oh my gosh, look at his little nose!"

"He's sniffing our shoes!"

"Ahh, I'm gonna die! His feet are so tiny!"

Eventually, Ren tired himself out, so he curled up in his little doggy bed and fell asleep. Clear and Aoba sat on the floor and watched as his furry little body rose and fell with his breaths.

"Why did you decide you wanted to get a dog?"

Aoba shrugged and looked at the floor. "I get lonely when you're not here."

Clear didn't say anything. Aoba glanced up to gauge Clear's reaction and was embarrassed to find his boyfriend barely restraining a dopey smile with his hands on his cheeks.

"Aobaaa!" He cried, snatching a bashful Aoba into a hug and squeezing him tightly. "You're so cute!"

"Can't...breathe..." Aoba choked exaggeratedly, trying in vain to wriggle out of Clear's iron grip.

Clear nuzzled his face against Aoba's hair. "You're so cute; you're gonna kill me!"

Deciding not to protest any further, Aoba relaxed against Clear's warm body, sighing contentedly. After all, being held like this wasn't so bad. He felt safe in his arms; like nothing bad could possibly happen as long as Clear had him snuggled against his chest.

After a while, though, Clear broke their blissful silence. "Aoba."

"Yeah?"

He pressed a soft kiss against his hair. "I should probably go home soon."

Aoba whined. "You know you can stay over if you want, right?"

"I know! And I absolutely want to spend more time cuddling with you, and maybe have sex again, but I can't. I need to visit Grandfather early in the morning."

"I understand." Aoba weaved out of their embrace. "How is he?"

"He's fine." Clear was smiling, but his usually-bright eyes were dim. "He isn't doing any better, but he isn't doing any worse."

Aoba frowned. "Are the treatments doing anything?"

"They're keeping him stable, and that's good, for now." He shrugged, though his expression turned slightly pained "That's really all I can hope for."

Not really sure how to console Clear, Aoba took his hands into his own and squeezed them. "You're doing all that you can, and that's more than a lot of people would do."

Clear sighed. "I know. But I wish I could do more."

Having never come near losing anyone that close to him, Aoba didn't feel right trying to talk to Clear about his situation. So he did the only thing he could think of: he pulled him close and kissed him softly. "I'm sorry."

Clear smiled at him and kissed him once more before standing up cautiously (so as not to wake Ren), offering a hand to help Aoba up.

"Wait, don't leave without your jacket." Aoba unbuttoned it and handed it to Clear.

Clear ran a finger over the now-hardened stain on Aoba's shirt. "Do you think that's going to come out?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "It's your fault, though."

"My fault?" Clear cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah! I mean, if it weren't for you..."

Clear sputtered. "It was your idea to do it in the first place!"

Aoba looked up at him with lidded eyes. "But you're the one that made me come." He pulled his shirt off and pushed it into Clear's arms. "You have to take responsibility for your actions."

Clear blushed deeply and looked away, taking Aoba's shirt. "Fine. I'll wash it when I get home." He wrapped an arm around Aoba's now-bare middle and kissed him goodbye.

"Text me when you get home, alright?"

"Of course," Clear whispered. He kissed Aoba once more before leaving.

Once Clear was gone, Aoba had a shower, which woke little Ren from his nap. He yapped and skittered around on the tile of the bathroom floor as Aoba dried off and got dressed again (and tried not to step on the bundle of fur). Though it was a bit annoying, he had to admit he felt a lot better having Ren there with him.

As he was getting into his bed (with his puppy snuggling in with him), he got a text from Clear.

"Just letting you know I'm home now! And I'm just putting your shirt in the washing machine."

Aoba smiled to himself as he replied. "Aww, I was hoping you would jack off into it or something. That's why I gave it to you!"

"That's kind of gross, Aoba."

"Don't act like you hadn't thought about it!"

"Nope, you're the only perv here ;)"

"Whatever, I’m gonna call you.” He waited a few seconds to ensure Clear had read his message before dialling his number.

“What’s up?” Clear said once he answered the call.

Aoba exhaled. “Nothing, really. I’m in bed, but I’m not tired enough to sleep.”

Clear hummed. “Where’s Ren?”

“He’s here, in bed with me." Aoba looked at the dog, who was currently shifting all over the place beside him. "He's moving around to get comfortable, and he keeps kicking me.”

“That’s cute,” Clear said, giggling. “I wish I were there to see it.”

“I wish you were here, too.” Aoba noted that it was easier to say things like this to Clear over the phone, rather than to his face. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I get lonely when you leave, you know. This apartment’s too big for one person.”

“I know you meant it,” Clear replied, and Aoba could hear the smile in his voice.

Neither of them were even remotely sleepy, so they talked for a while (since they hadn't really had much of a chance to talk earlier). Clear told Aoba about his day at work, and Aoba told him about his day mostly spent alone.

“Oh my God,” Aoba groaned, looking at the clock. “It’s so late! I’m not gonna want to get up in the morning.”

“Tomorrow is Sunday. What do you have to get up for?”

“My friends and I are going out for brunch.” He huffed. “I should try to sleep, but I’m not tired at all!”

Clear paused for a few seconds. “I could sing you to sleep, if you want,” he suggested meekly.

Aoba blushed, and he was grateful that Clear couldn’t see it. “You’d do that?”

“Of course I would!” He chirped. Aoba heard some shuffling in the background. “Just let me get my guitar.”

Aoba waited patiently.

“Can you still hear me?” Clear asked. “I had to put it on speakerphone.”

“Yeah, I can hear you.” Aoba put his phone on speaker, too, so he could lie down comfortably. He settled in and listened as Clear started strumming. He wound up getting through three of the sappiest songs Aoba had ever heard before Aoba had to end the call, nearly falling asleep. The last coherent thought Aoba had before he went completely out was that Clear had the loveliest voice in the whole universe (which he may or may not have mumbled to him before hanging up).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> clear's criteria for picking a dog is exactly the same as mine tbh


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba and Clear have a fight (which was bound to happen eventually).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhhhhhhhhh. ok so it's only been like 3 days since my last update? so i think i've got my life back on track. lmao hope you enjoy

Aoba was in the middle of a Skype call with his parents when his cell phone started ringing. The caller ID said it was Clear.

"Is that your phone?" His mother asked.

"Yeah, it is." Aoba made no move to get his phone.

"Aren't you going to answer it?"

Aoba didn't want his parents to know he had a boyfriend, because he knew he wouldn't be able to lie to them, and he definitely couldn't tell them the truth! If he answered his phone, it would be difficult to hide it from them. Deciding that it was probably better to keep Clear a secret for now, he shrugged and said, "It's probably a telemarketer."

Almost immediately after he said goodbye to his parents, though, he called Clear back.

"Aoba?"

"Hey! What were you calling about earlier?"

"I was just wondering..." He trailed off. "Wait. You knew it was me calling?"

"Yeah, but I couldn't answer. I was Skyping with my parents."

Clear paused. "Why couldn't you answer?"

"I can't just let them find out about you," Aoba said like it was obvious. He realized what he was saying a moment later and froze.

"Are you serious?" Clear said after a while.

"I, uh...I didn't mean--"

"Are you _serious?"_ He asked again with a little more fire. "We've been together for almost two months. Why can't they find out about me, Aoba?"

"Well...b-because they'd be mad...that y-you're..."

Clear laughed bitterly. "Really?"

"I-It's not my fault! I just don't want to make them upset with me!"

"So you'd rather have me upset with you?" He sighed. "Is this why you've never introduced me to your friends? Are you embarrassed to be associated with me?"

"No, of course not! My friends know about you! It's just..."

"It's just what, Aoba?"

"People are gonna think of me differently if they find out about us!" Aoba snapped.

"And that matters more to you than I do?" Clear nearly whispered, sounding considerably more hurt than he did before.

"No, but...it doesn't _not_ matter." Why wasn’t Clear understanding? It wasn’t that Aoba was embarrassed because of _him;_ it was the fact that he was poor! That was a completely different thing.

"If you're too _ashamed_ to tell people that you're dating me," he hissed, "maybe you shouldn't have been in the first place." He ended the call.

Aoba sat there with the phone still against his ear for a few minutes, stunned and almost unable to move. He eventually called his brother .

"Aoba? What's up?"

"I had a fight with Clear," he wailed, tears spilling over. "I think he broke up with me!"

"What? But I thought..." Sei trailed off. "Tell me everything."

Aoba sobbed into his phone as he recounted the entire thing. Sei actually ended up siding with Clear, and, after a brief argument, Aoba started to understand where Clear had been coming from. Once Sei had explained it to him, Aoba realized that hiding Clear from his parents because of his financial status _was_ being ashamed of him, which made him feel terrible.

“If you really love someone, you love all of them,” Sei chided like he was their mom or something.

“It’s not that I have a problem with the way he is, but...I mean, Dad always told us that the way people see us is really important, so why wouldn’t I care about that?”

“Maybe Dad was wrong.”

“Oh my God, don’t say that!” Aoba giggled. “What if he hears you?”

“He won’t, don’t worry.” Sei paused to calm his laughing down. “Really, though, you need to talk to Clear about this, not me. Just tell him that you love him, and that you didn’t mean what you said.”

“But…” Aoba toyed with the hem of his shirt. “I don’t know if he loves me, too.”

“You won’t find out until you talk to him, right?”

Aoba sighed with resignation. “Right.”

The next morning, on his way to school, Aoba walked past Clear, who was playing his guitar and using some kind of clip-on harmonica apparatus. But instead of the usual smile or wink or flirtatious greeting of any kind, he got an extremely brief glare and an averted gaze. Aoba walked away from him without saying anything.

*     *     *

By the time Saturday night rolled around, four days had passed since Aoba's fight with Clear. They still hadn't spoken, and Aoba still had no idea how to fix it, so he dealt with his problems the way he always did: drinking until he forgot they ever existed. He went bar hopping with Koujaku and Noiz and, by about twelve-thirty, he was completely smashed. He danced and sang karaoke (terribly) and flirted with strangers and, most importantly, forgot entirely about Clear.

Little did Aoba know, though, when Clear wasn't busy on Saturday nights, he chose to play his guitar and sing in the area downtown where all the young kids went to drink (because people were so much more charitable when they were drunk!). That area happened to be where Aoba was.

So he was very surprised when, as he was walking (more like stumbling) with his friends to their next destination, he heard a very familiar voice singing in the distance. Filled with a buzzing sort of excitement, he grabbed his friends' wrists and followed the sound.

"Where're we going?" Koujaku asked, a bit of a whine in his tone.

"I'm gonna introduce you to my boyfriend!"

"How do you know where he is?"

"I can hear him singing!" When he finally saw Clear, he sped up his pace. "Clear! Hey! Clear, it's me, Aoba!"

Clear looked up, confusion on his face as Aoba stopped in front of him. "Are you drunk?"

"Yes! But that's not important." He raised Koujaku and Noiz's wrists (which he was still holding). "I brought my friends!"

"Yo," Koujaku greeted. Noiz only grunted, nodding once at Clear in acknowledgement.

"This is Koujaku," he said, gesturing at him with his head, "and this is Noiz." He put their arms down and pointed at Clear. "And, guys, this is my boyfriend, Clear."

Koujaku smiled. "It's nice to meet you. Aoba's told us about you!"

"Yeah," Noiz agreed.

Clear smiled politely at them. "It's nice to meet you, too."

"Why have you been ignoring me?" Aoba asked rather loudly.

Clear cocked his head to the side, eyes widening innocently. "Did you forget what you said to me?"

Aoba scowled. "You're the one that hung up on me before I could explain myself!"

"I think you explained yourself pretty well, Aoba."

"W-Well, I didn't mean it! Look, I'm introducing you to my friends!"

Clear sighed. "I don't think we should be having this conversation while you're in this state."

Nobody said anything for a few seconds, so Koujaku cleared his throat. "So, uh...we were just about to go to another bar. You're welcome to join us if you want to."

"I think I’ll pass. But thank you, though; I appreciate it."

They headed to the karaoke bar and Koujaku and Noiz sang the grossest, most romantic duet they could have possibly chosen. Instead of being embarrassed for them (like he usually would have been), their performance only made Aoba wish Clear was with him. Acting on an impulse, he texted his friends that he was going to meet him and stumbled out of the bar.

Navigating his way through the bustling streets, he went back to where Clear had been, but he couldn't find him. Had he taken a wrong turn at the intersection? He tried to remember where he had just come from, but his mind was foggy. Or maybe Clear had moved to a different spot so he wouldn't have to see Aoba again? He pulled his phone out of his pocket, texting Clear to get to the bottom of this.

"Where are you??? where did uou go??"

"Come onnmnn im sorry!!! I didnt mean it baby u kno how much i care aboug u!!!"

"Ill tell everyone i know thag im dating u!!! not just my close friends!!! I swear to god ill call my parents rihht now!!!"

"If u dont reply in the nezt two minutes im doing it."

"Ok im do ig it!!!"

Aoba dialled his mother's number with resolve, knowing exactly how to approach the situation with grace and eloquence.

"Aoba? Why are you calling so late?" She said when she answered, voice kind of gravelly.

"I'm dating a poor boy!" He almost screamed into the receiver.

"Are you drunk?"

"Did you hear me? I'm dating a boy who didn't even own proper shoes until I bought him some!" His voice stayed at a steady volume, secretly hoping Clear could hear him. "And he's really nice and he has the biggest dick I've ever seen! It's really big, I swear! And I've seen a _lot_ of dicks!"

"Are you alright? Where are you?"

"I'm not ashamed of him at all!" He yelled with more force before ending the call. He saved it, just in case, then texted Clear again.

"Ok i told my mkm about u!! I mentioned that u have a rly big dick too."

Clear still wasn't saying anything back, and Aoba didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure how to get back to the bar his friends were at, and a small amount of anxiety flared in his chest when he realized he was alone and kind of lost. He figured he would try texting Clear again, and if he still didn't reply, he would try to find his way back to an area he was familiar with. He tried his hardest to compose a message that made him seem like a responsible adult who deserved to be taken seriously.

“Clkeaaaarr im scared and idk wgere i am??? i think im lost wgat if someoe tries to kidnap me or somethig???”

Clear finally replied. "Can you find a street sign? Are you near any buildings?"

Aoba looked around and saw an address on the front of a building, so he took a picture of it and sent it to Clear.

"Stay there."

"Oooh baby ;) i love it wjen u tell me what to do."

Aoba found his dizzy self in the arms of a stranger a few minutes later, and he almost screamed for help, but then he realized it was just Clear.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" He asked once he had scooped him up in his arms, apparently deciding Aoba wasn't capable of getting around on his own (which he wasn't).

"I was looking for you, silly!" Aoba exclaimed, putting his hands on Clear's face clumsily. When he felt Clear start to walk, he asked, "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you home. You're too drunk."

“You’re gonna carry me the whole way there?”

“We’re three blocks away from your apartment; it’s not very far.” He sighed. "Why were you looking for me?"

"Because I'm sorry," Aoba whined, burying his face in Clear's neck like a child. "I'm not ashamed of you! I'm proud to say that you're the guy I'm fucking!"

"The guy you're fucking?"

"Yeah! Also I told my mom about you."

Clear grimaced. "You were serious about that?"

"Yep!" He giggled. "And I recorded the call in case you didn't believe me."

Clear didn't say anything for a long while; he just stared straight ahead, carrying Aoba in his strong arms and trying not to trip as he walked.

"Are you still mad at me?" Aoba asked meekly.

"Yes," Clear admitted.

"Then...why are you taking me home?"

"I'm mad at you, yeah, but I don't want you to get mugged or assaulted or something."

"You're really nice," Aoba whispered, starting to cry. "I'm so sorry! You're the nicest guy I've ever been with and you're really hot and you're really good in bed. Please don't break up with me!"

"I'm not gonna..." Clear huffed, letting his sentence trail off. "Please stop crying!"

Still snivelling, Aoba squeezed his arms around Clear's neck and squished their faces against each other. "Do you still like me?"

"Yes, Aoba."

He poked Clear's cheek. "Do you still think I'm cute?"

Clear sighed, exasperated. "Yes, I still think you're cute." He shifted Aoba to one arm so he could use his hand to wipe his tears away. "So stop crying, okay?"

Aoba nearly fell asleep in the warm cradle of Clear's arms, but every so often Clear would move him slightly, unintentionally waking him up. After several minutes of walking, Clear stopped outside Aoba's building and carefully set him down. "Do you think you can get inside on your own?"

Aoba leaned against Clear, wobbling slightly. "Why don't you come up with me?"

"Aoba..." Clear's voice had a warning tone.

"C'mon," he whined, bumping their hips together. He did a walking motion with his fingers all the way up the front of Clear's shirt. "Let’s fuck."

"No. Do you need my help, or not?"

"There's a fire between my legs and I need your help to put it out, big daddy," he purred.

Clear went impossibly red from his hairline all the way down into the collar of his shirt. "Please go inside so I can leave."

Aoba snorted. "Did that turn you on? Really?"

"Aoba!"

"Fine! Fine, I'm going inside." He popped up on his tiptoes to give Clear a kiss goodnight (which, to his surprise, was reciprocated).

"If you need anything at all, please call me, alright?"

As Aoba looked at the sincere concern on Clear's face, he realized that he must have been the luckiest guy in the whole universe. Clear was upset with Aoba, and he had every reason to be, but here he was anyway, making sure Aoba got home safely. It was in that instant that he realized something really important, and he felt it was vital that Clear knew as soon as he possibly could.

"I need _you_ ," he whispered. "I need you to be with me every day for the rest of my life. Does that count?"

Clear's serious expression faltered a little bit and he almost genuinely smiled. "If I come up with you, we're not having sex, okay? You're drunk and I'm not comfortable with that."

Aoba grinned at him. "We can still snuggle, right?"

Clear narrowed his eyes. "Don't push it."

*     *     *

When Aoba woke up the next morning, he had the worst headache known to man. More importantly, though, he was naked and snuggled up with a fully-clothed Clear.

"Clear," he grunted, elbowing him until he moved. "Get up."

"Ehh?"

"I need you to tell me what happened last night."

Clear yawned and sat up, stretching. "You should start by checking your saved calls.”

Aoba snatched his phone off the nightstand and tapped at it until it was playing, on speaker, the call he had made to his mother the previous night. Clear watched his face as he listened, laughing as his expression changed from confused to horrified.

"Don't laugh at me!" He swung a pillow at him. "Do you have any idea how much shit I'm probably in right now?"

"Why?" Clear glowered. "Because you're boyfriend is subpar?"

Aoba froze, cringing. "Clear, I didn't--"

"Do you have any idea how much it hurt to hear you say that?" He said weakly. "All the time, I'm worried that you'll realize that I'm not worth your time and you'll leave, and...then you go and say something like that to me."

"You're...worried that I'm gonna leave you?"

Clear shrugged, eyes slightly wet. "What could someone like you possibly see in me?"

Aoba was dumbfounded. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm always worried that you're only with me out of pity." A few tears fell and he wiped them away, laughing wetly. "And when you said that to me, it made me start to believe it."

Watching his boyfriend cry and confess his deepest insecurities made Aoba's heart break. He hugged his arms around Clear's waist and nuzzled into him. "I'm not with you because I feel bad for you, or because I feel obligated to be. I'm with you because you're the sweetest and warmest and most interesting and beautiful person I've ever met, and...I love you."

“You love me?” Clear echoed, voice shaky.

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Yes! And I’ll introduce you properly to my friends, and you can meet my family if they ever want to speak to me again.” He burrowed himself further against him. “I don’t care what they think of me. I’d rather be with you and have my parents hate me than not be with you at all.”

"Aoba...!" Clear whispered in a tight voice, kissing the top of his head and squeezing him in his arms. "I love you, too."

They held each other, kissing every once in a while, until Aoba remembered something he wanted to ask about.

"Clear?"

"Yes?"

"Just wondering, um...why am I naked?"

Clear chuckled. "I tried to stop you, but you insisted on taking your clothes off."

Aoba scoffed, embarrassed. "Whatever. We didn't... _do anything,_ though, right?"

"Of course not!" Clear almost-snapped at him. "I would never let that happen."

Aoba sighed dreamily and leaned more into Clear's embrace. "You're always looking out for me, aren't you… _big daddy?"_

Clear sputtered and shoved Aoba away from him, nearly sending him to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok 1st of all: aoba's drunk typing is 100% based off of my own drunk typing. like i went back into the archives of my life and did research and shit for this chapter. i like to keep things real. authentic. this is the calibre of work that i want to put forward.
> 
> 2nd of all: there will be absolutely no daddy kink in this story ever lmao, i just think it would be funny if aoba jokingly called clear that b/c clear would actually like it but he'd be embarrassed that he likes it and embarrassing clear is my fav thing to do
> 
> 3rd of all: i've pegged this story at probably 11 chapters now?? i added in another one between the next one and the one after that so there will probably be 11 now unless i merge two chapters together or s/t. so yeah there u go


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba and Clear hang out with Koujaku and Noiz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i highly advise you to listen to "bump n grind" by r kelly before you read this chapter

"So Noiz and I were thinking that maybe you could bring your boy toy when we go out tonight." Koujaku took a bite of his salad. "What do you think?"

"We're going out to do karaoke again. He likes singing, right?"

Aoba knew Clear only worked until six, so he technically could, but...to be truthful, he had kind of planned on ditching his friends so he could watch TV and snuggle with Clear in the comfort of his apartment. It would be nice, though, for his friends to properly hang out with Clear.

So, he said, "Sure, why not?" and went back to drinking his milkshake.

After saying goodbye to his friends, Aoba decided to visit Clear at the coffee shop. There was only about forty minutes left of his shift, so Aoba got his usual drink and lingered at the counter.

“My friends want you to come out with us tonight.”

"That sounds like fun! Where are we going?"

"Uh, Koujaku's been really wanting to go back to that karaoke bar we went to before, so...there, I think."

Clear’s face lit up. “Karaoke? Do you sing, Aoba? I’ve never heard you sing before!”

“I sing if I’ve had enough to drink,” Aoba said, laughing bashfully. “I’m not very good, though.”

“I’m sure you have a beautiful voice!”

Aoba narrowed his eyes. “How can you tell?”

“Because,” Clear said, grinning, “Everything about you is beautiful!”

“You’re always so sweet,” Aoba cooed. “But you’re wrong. I’m terrible.”

A few people came in, so Aoba left the counter and sat down at a table. He watched the way Clear chatted up the customers and he felt oddly proud. Each person left the coffee shop looking happier than they had when they came in, obviously dazzled by Clear’s charms. He was able to brighten someone's day with just a few words and a smile. Aoba was so in love with Clear, he could hardly believe it.

When Clear finally emerged from the back of the store at the end of his shift, Aoba encircled him in a hug. He buried his nose in the collar of his shirt and inhaled, noting how strongly Clear smelled like coffee. He pulled back after a second, embarrassed about being so affectionate in public (though the shop was empty of customers). But Clear pulled him back in, smothering his face with the sweetest kisses he could muster.

*     *     *

Aoba had known Koujaku for practically his entire life. He knew that he had many strengths: he was a skilled hairdresser, he was a loyal friend, he could charm the pants off anyone in a thirty-foot radius. But Aoba knew that, like anyone, Koujaku had his faults; one of which being that he was not a good singer. The thing was, though, when he was drunk, he thought he was a fantastic singer.

And Koujaku was absolutely drunk.

After a stunning rendition of Fergalicious, Koujaku sat back down at their booth and nudged Aoba with his foot. "C'mon, bitch! Even Noiz went up. It's your turn!"

Noiz had gone up, and Koujaku had sang a (startlingly bad) three songs already, but Aoba really didn't want to sing. "No, thanks."

"What if I went up with you?" Clear asked from across the table.

"I guess I...can't really think of a reason not to?"

"Is that a yes?!" Koujaku asked in way-too-much excitement.

"I'm picking the song!" Noiz barked, getting up to do just that.

Aoba drank as much as he could in the short amount of time he had before he went up. He was nowhere near as drunk as he needed to be in order to sing in front of a crowd. He felt kind of weird, though, tossing back drinks while his friends weren't drinking as much (especially Clear, who Aoba just realized wasn't drinking at all).

He slid his foot up Clear's shin under the table. "Why aren't you drinking?"

Clear shrugged. "No reason."

"Do you want me to get you something?"

Clear shrugged again, then nodded. Aoba decided to surprise him by getting six shots of tequila (two of which were for himself). Clear's eyes widened when he saw Aoba carrying them back to the table.

"Don't worry," Aoba laughed. "Two of them are for me."

"Only two?!"

Aoba laughed even harder, then took both shots at record speed. Clear reluctantly followed, making a face in disgust after each one.

When they were called up, Aoba could feel his heartbeat in his stomach. But then Clear took his hand, reassuring smile on his face, and Aoba felt a whole lot better. As it turned out, Noiz had chosen the greatest song known to man: R Kelly's Bump and Grind. Luckily, the two of them were familiar with it. Clear said he would do the main vocals, and Aoba would sing the backup parts. The song itself was really embarrassing, and Aoba knew he was nowhere near as talented as Clear. The alcohol kicked in just as the music started, though, so he was too drunk to feel embarrassed.

Clear did his best R Kelly impression, which was good enough to make Aoba snort and almost miss his cue to come in. When he started singing, he glanced at Clear and saw his face light up. Aoba could tell that Clear was happy to finally hear him sing (though, really, he sucked). Having to sing adjacent to Clear (who was absolutely fucking killing it) only served to make Aoba look even worse. But he supposed it was fun singing with Clear, and he vaguely thought in the back of his mind that they should do it more often.

"That was incredible! You're a really good singer, Clear!" Koujaku raved once they sat back down (or, at least, Aoba thought that's what he was saying. He was slurring his words). He then reached across the table and pulled an incredibly shocked Clear in for an open-mouthed kiss. Aoba watched on in slightly-amused horror as Koujaku tangled his hands in Clear's hair and sinfully licked inside his mouth while Clear just sat there, frozen, jaw moving with Koujaku's probably more out of habit than anything.

"U-U-Um." Clear stammered, blushing furiously, once Koujaku had pulled away and sat back down.

"I couldn't help myself!" Koujaku exclaimed, laughing. It was obvious that he had had a lot to drink since Aoba had last seen him. "You're just too cute."

"I know he's cute. He's my boyfriend," Aoba grumbled, getting up on his knees on the bench and leaning diagonally over the table on one elbow, pulling Clear towards him with a hand fisted in his shirt. "And I'm the only one who gets to kiss him like that." He brought their mouths together in a much more salacious manner than Koujaku had. Clear made a sound in the back of his throat and reciprocated the kiss, hands sliding over Aoba's torso.

Once Aoba had settled back into his seat, he glared at everyone in turn. "Does anyone else wanna kiss him, or have I made myself clear?"

Noiz turned to Clear, who was sitting beside him, and kissed him with more passion than even Aoba had brought. He caressed Clear's face and neck with both hands as he ravished his mouth, and Aoba was pretty sure he heard Clear moan a little bit.

Noiz wiped his mouth with the back of his hand once they broke apart. "Everyone else got to kiss him. I felt left out."

Clear slumped forward, smothering his face in his arms on the table. “You guys…!”

"Who's the best kisser?" Koujaku demanded to know, slamming his fist on the table and rattling the stack of shot glasses.

"T-That's...kind of subjective, don't you think?" Clear stammered, peeking up a little bit. "I mean, I obviously like kissing Aoba more than anyone else, b-but that doesn't mean either of you weren't...good at it..."

Koujaku rolled his eyes. "I bet I give better head."

"H-Hey!" Aoba snapped, swatting Koujaku on the arm. "Watch it!"

"I bet he does," Noiz said, snickering. "He gives pretty good head."

"But I do, too," Aoba argued. "Right, Clear?"

"O-Of course you do, Aoba! You're the best I've ever had."

"I bet I could change that," Koujaku purred, raising an eyebrow.

Aoba closed his eyes and took a calming breath before turning to Koujaku. "I'm gonna let you off the hook for this because of how drunk you are, but if you ever hit on my boyfriend again, I swear to God I'll kick your ass."

Koujaku laughed and pulled Aoba into a hug, nuzzling his face against his hair. "I love you, man."

"I love you, too," Aoba assured, patting Koujaku on the arm. Clear _aww_ ed and took a picture with his phone.

"And I love you, Noiz," Koujaku said, reaching across the table and snatching Noiz's hands with his own.

Noiz frowned and looked away. "Whatever."

"And I don't even know you that well," Koujaku continued, turning his attention to the man directly across from him, "but I love you and your cute little ass."

Clear blushed, giggling into his hand. "My what?"

"You heard me."

"Koujaku, I swear to God...!"

The four of them carried on like that for a while, bantering and trying not to take Koujaku's blatant come-ons too seriously. Eventually, though, they had to go home. Koujaku left with Noiz (not without grabbing Clear's ass once "for the road"), and Clear and Aoba headed back to his apartment.

"I'm sorry," Aoba sighed, slumped against Clear in the back of the cab. Sure, he wasn't as drunk as Koujaku, but he certainly wasn't sober. Neither was Clear.

"Sorry about what?"

"My friends. Koujaku, mostly."

Clear chuckled. "It's alright."

"It is?" Aoba frowned, though Clear couldn't see his face. "It shouldn't be."

"I didn't mean it like that, Aoba. You know that I don't want to kiss people who aren't you, but I'm not mad at them or anything."

Aoba slid his hand over Clear's thigh. "Whatever. There are lots of other things that only I get to do with you, right?"

"Right. You're the only one who ever wakes up beside me in the morning, and snuggles with me at night."

Aoba smiled at the thought. "That's true."

"And," he continued in a lower voice, speaking into Aoba's ear, "You're the only one who's getting this dick tonight."

Aoba giggled and swatted at Clear playfully. As if he had forgotten the driver’s presence completely, Clear leaned in and started to kiss his way along Aoba’s jaw. Aoba pushed him away again halfheartedly, though he didn't protest when Clear dove in again. They went back and forth like that a few times until they were wildly making out in the back of the car.

The driver cleared his throat from the front seat. “Sorry to, uh, interrupt, but we’ve arrived at your destination.”

Snapping out of his horny trance, Aoba handed way too much money to the driver and exited the vehicle without a word, dragging Clear out with him.

After nearly ten minutes of struggling with the keys and fumbling up the stairs, they were successfully inside Aoba’s apartment. They shed their clothes on the way to the bedroom, not having the patience to waste any time. Aoba clambered up onto the mattress and Clear followed, kneeling on the foot of the bed. He made to crawl in closer when Aoba stopped him, hands held out in front of him and eyes wide as he remembered something.

“Wait!” He cried, leaning over to grab something from his nightstand. He resurfaced and threw a copy of Cosmo magazine on the bed, opening it and flipping through to find a specific page. “There’s something I wanna try.”

“What is it?”

“This position!” Aoba chirped, pointing at the image on the page.

Clear blanched. “Um. Won’t that hurt? It definitely looks like it’ll hurt.”

“We won’t know until we try!”

Clear reluctantly agreed to try it out, so once they were both lubricated, he did as Aoba told. He ended up sitting upright with his legs extended in front of him, with Aoba kneeling in his lap.

“What do we do now?”

“Gimme a second,” Aoba grumbled as scooted forward on his knees, slowly sitting on his dick. Once he had taken all of him, he arched his body up into a backbend, holding onto Clear’s ankles to keep himself steady. “Now you lean over me.”

“Okay,” Clear said, voice strained. He leaned over Aoba, holding him up with his arms around his middle. “So how do we move?”

“Can’t you move?”

“Not really.”

“Well, I can’t move,” Aoba snapped. “This is stupid.” Maybe it was because they were both drunk, but Aoba didn't feel like they were doing it right.

Clear looked at the magazine again, probably thinking the same thing as Aoba. “It looks like it’s a straight couple doing it in the picture. Maybe it’s only meant for straight couples?”

“I don’t think it really matters.” Aoba groaned in discomfort. “I’m starting to get a head rush.”

“Maybe it’ll work if I move you instead?”

“Yeah, try that.”

Clear pulled Aoba in towards him, sliding him further onto his cock before lifting him back off. “How was that?”

“That sucked. This is way too much work, and it’s making me dizzy.”

“Thank God,” Clear mumbled as Aoba unpretzeled himself.

“Let’s try the next one instead, then.” Aoba studied the picture for a moment before lying on his back and pulling his knees into his chest, crossing his legs together snugly. “Now you put your dick in me!”

Clear put his dick in him. Aoba put his feet on Clear’s chest, giggling as he wiggled his toes against his skin.

"Will you cut that out? It tickles."

"Nope!" He wiggled them even more, snickering. "Now hurry up. We still have the other three positions to try!”

Clear complied, beginning to thrust his hips slowly. Clear’s eyes widened, making Aoba giggle at him. He then cleared his throat and said in a dry voice, “You’re really tight like this.”

Aoba intentionally squeezed his muscles around Clear’s cock, drawing a low, needy sound from the back of his partner’s throat. “Does it feel good, baby?”

“Y-Yeah, it really does,” Clear murmured between heavy breaths. “Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea.”

Since Aoba couldn’t move much at all, he was able to just lay there and focus on Clear; the sounds and the faces he made, the sweet words he whispered every so often, the way he gently stroked Aoba’s hips as he fucked into him. Everything Clear did when they had sex drove Aoba crazy.

"I can tell you really like this one," Aoba said, "But I want to try the other ones, too. Is that okay?"

"Yes, of course," Clear assured, pulling out and backing away slightly.

Aoba hummed as he looked at the page. "Which one should we do next?"

"This one looks nice," Clear suggested, pointing at a simple-looking spooning position.

"Maybe we should do that one at the end, when we're really tired." He flipped to the next page. "Ooh! This looks fun."

Aoba stacked a few pillows and rested his chest on them as he lay on his stomach, spreading his legs. Clear entered him from behind, resting on top of him in a similar position.

"Does it say how I'm supposed to move?"

"It says to swirl your hips in a circle."

Clear did as Aoba suggested. He slowly gyrated against him, mouthing at the back of his neck while he did. "How does it feel?"

"R-Really, really good," Aoba moaned, burying his face in his arms. "Is it good for you, too?"

"It's okay," Clear admitted. "But I take the most pleasure in seeing you enjoy it when we make love." He nibbled on Aoba's shoulderblade.

Aoba blushed and tensed up a little bit. "Don't call it that! It's so embarrassing."

"You don't want me to call it 'making love?'"

"No!"

"Why not? After all, it's what we're doing, isn't it?"

Aoba grumbled wordlessly and relaxed against the pillows again. "Whatever. Call it whatever you want."

Clear kissed down the first few inches of his spine and grinded his hips a few more times before pulling out.

Aoba rolled over onto his back again. "What's the next one say?"

"Um...I guess I'm supposed to sit against the headboard, and you ride me with your ankles on my shoulders."

Aoba got into position, placing his hands on Clear's thighs for support. He wobbled his way up and down on Clear's dick a few times before he gave up, hoisting himself up off of him and slumping over onto the bed, exhausted. "That's too hard. Let's try the spooning one."

Clear shifted down on the bed until he was spooning Aoba. He lifted Aoba's leg slightly and entered him slowly.

"This isn't very exciting," Aoba grumbled.

"No, but it's nice being close like this, isn't it?" Clear massaged the back of Aoba's neck with one hand, sliding the other one over his hip. He thrusted slowly but deeply, and the angle of his movements sent shockwaves of pleasure through Aoba's body.

"I'm gonna fall asleep," Aoba mumbled.

"Am I boring you?"

"No, not at all! It's just that this is really relaxing."

"Maybe this will wake you up," Clear said, sliding his leg in between Aoba's and wedging them apart. He hooked his arm under Aoba's uppermost leg and lifted it up high into the air, spreading him wide open. Aoba reached an arm behind him to hold onto Clear for support, ultimately ending up gripping his ass cheek. He squeezed it a few times, digging his fingertips in a little bit.

"Koujaku was right."

"A-About what?"

"You do have a cute ass." He drew his hand back, then brought it back down in a slap. Clear made a squeaking sound, and Aoba giggled.

“Aoba,” Clear whined in protest.

“No! If you’re allowed to grab my ass all the time, I’m allowed to grab yours. It’s only fair.”

Clear mumbled something under his breath but didn’t argue any further. He picked up his pace and gripped Aoba’s inner thigh tightly to keep him in position so they wouldn’t topple forward. Aoba cried out at an increasing volume as he felt himself nearing his peak. After all the stopping and re-starting, it was a relief to know that he was actually going to be able to come.

As their movements became frenzied, Aoba turned his head around so he could kiss Clear. As they moaned into each other’s mouths, Clear let go of Aoba’s leg to hold him tightly around his middle. He broke their kiss, panting, and shouted Aoba’s name over and over again as he drove his hips in as far as he could go, reaching his climax. While he came, Clear stayed inside Aoba, grinding his hips in little circles to ride it out as long as he could. He was in so deep that Aoba came, too; kicking his legs out at the bedsheets, mouth hanging open in a silent cry.

Clear pulled out and dealt with the mess while Aoba recovered. He disappeared into the washroom for a moment, then returned with a warm, damp washcloth, which he used to clean Aoba up with. When he was done, he set it on the nightstand and snuggled back in with Aoba.

“How was that?” He asked sweetly, kissing Aoba’s sweaty forehead.

"Ridiculous," Aoba answered, chuckling. "Sorry I made you do all that."

"I didn't mind. I like doing anything as long as it's with you."

"Did you like it when I grabbed your ass?"

Clear blushed. "I didn't hate it. And you're right, I guess; you had every right to do that."

"Good." Aoba shut his eyes and leaned closer into Clear's warmth. He was startled out of his peaceful state, however, when he felt Clear's hand come down sharply on his ass. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"You slapped my butt; why can't I slap yours?" Clear teased. "It's only fair." He swatted at him again, giggling. "It jiggles when I hit it!"

"Clear..." Aoba warned.

"It's so cute!" He tapped it in rapid succession. Aoba sighed, exasperated, and let Clear do what he wanted. He could feel his flesh jiggling as it was hit, just as Clear had described.

"I wonder if your ass would jiggle, too," Aoba mused.

"Try it!" Clear encouraged, taking Aoba's hand and placing it on his hip. Aoba took the invitation and smacked him, frowning slightly when he didn't get the reaction he wanted.

"Your ass is too tight. It doesn't move."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be! It looks really good, believe me. It's just not as fun as I'd hoped."

They slapped each other’s asses for twenty minutes before they were ready to go to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba stresses himself out. Clear comes to the rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this isnt boring but it has some plot stuff in it. so. it needs to happen lmao

Aoba’s finals were starting in only a few weeks, and his current marks were definitely not where he wanted them to be. So, for the past little while, he had been spending most of his free time studying. And “most of his free time” meant _all of his free time._ He had been running on three hours of sleep a night, studying nonstop and only really leaving his apartment to go to class. He still took the occasional phone call from Clear or his brother, but ignored anyone else. Poor little Ren had to bark up a storm to get his attention when he needed food.

In all truth, it didn’t matter how well he did in school, as long as he didn’t fail. When he graduated, his father would give him a job no matter what. Still, Aoba wanted to make his parents proud.

Days passed like that, with Aoba barely sleeping or eating or going outside, endlessly reviewing for his exams. He worked himself into a trance-like state, getting less and less sleep each night and driving himself crazy. He stopped answering anyone’s calls or texts, even ones from his family. By the time exams were only a few days away, he had been awake for a solid thirty-six hours. He still went to class, though. Of course he did!

“Hey, man,” Noiz said, nudging him from the seat beside him. “You okay? You look kinda...rough.”

Aoba snapped his face up from his keyboard, looking at Noiz (though his eyes weren’t quite able to focus). “Ehh?”

Noiz put his hand on Aoba’s shoulder. “Dude. Go home. I’ll send you my notes.”

“He’s right,” Koujaku chimed in, leaning over Noiz so Aoba could hear him better. “You look like death.”

“B-B-But…”

“It’ll be fine.”

“We don’t want you to wind up dead or something. Go.”

Hysterical at this point, Aoba started laughing, deciding in his foggy state to listen to his friends. He stood up wordlessly, gathering his things and leaving the auditorium. He walked home in a daze (not without stopping for coffee first), almost walking into traffic twice.

Clear was outside, strumming his guitar like he usually did. Aoba hadn’t acknowledged him that morning, but he had just been so preoccupied that he genuinely hadn’t noticed him. When Clear saw that Aoba was walking back, carrying a very large coffee in his hand, he called out to him. “Aoba!”

Aoba didn’t even flinch.

“Hey! Aoba!”

Aoba was approaching closer, but he still hadn’t reacted.

Clear cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “AOBA!”

Aoba jumped, startled, dropping his coffee on the ground. It splashed over his shoes. Aoba growled in frustration and kicked the now-empty cup away, glaring daggers at Clear. “What the fuck do you want?!”

“Are you feeling okay? You look...tired."

“I’m fine,” he snarled.

“I haven’t heard from you in over a week! Why haven’t you returned any of my calls?”

“I’ve been busy with school,” he sneered. “Not that you would understand what that’s like, 'cause you're a deadbeat fucking loser.”

Clear huffed, getting up and collecting his things. “I know you didn’t mean that.”

“You don’t know anything.”

“Are you okay?” He asked again, holding Aoba by the shoulders at an arm’s length.

Aoba’s lower lip quivered and he shook his head. He started to sob uncontrollably, blubbering something that sounded like words but didn’t actually make any sense.

“Okay,” Clear said, taking Aoba by the hand and pulling him in the direction of his building. “You need to go to sleep.”

“I can’t sleep!” Aoba wailed. “I need to study!”

“You need to sleep,” Clear repeated firmly. “I don’t want you to get sick.”

“I don’t care what you think!”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Clear ushered Aoba up the stairs to his apartment, listening to him complain the entire time. He ordered him to get into bed as soon as they were inside.

“I don’t wanna sleep!”

“I don’t care if you don’t want to. You need to.”

“I hate you!” Aoba grumbled, stomping into his room. He peeked his head out a moment later and said, “Aren’t you coming with me?”

*     *     *

When Aoba woke up later, Clear wasn’t beside him. He distinctly remembered Clear snuggling with him before he fell asleep. Did he leave? He tentatively called his name.

“Aoba? Are you alright?” Clear rushed back into his bedroom.

“Yeah.” Aoba wiped the drool from his face. “What time is it?”

“It’s nine o’clock.”

“At night?”

“Yes.”

“I slept for twelve hours?!”

“Yes! You were very tired,” Clear said, chuckling.

“What did you do while I was asleep?”

“I stayed as long as I could until I had to go to work, but I took your keys with me so I could come back after. When I got back, I took Ren for a walk, and then I noticed it was a mess in here, so I cleaned up a little bit.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Aoba said, feeling guilty. “But I appreciate it. Thank you.”

"I made dinner. Are you hungry?"

Aoba's stomach growled at the mention of food. "I'm starving."

Clear walked over to the bed to help Aoba up. Once he was standing, Aoba hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry I was mean to you."

"It's alright." Clear hugged him back. "I know you were just tired and grumpy."

Aoba pressed his face against his neck and whispered, "I don't think you're a loser."

"I know."

"I don't know why I said that."

"It's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Good."

They went into the kitchen to eat dinner then, and Aoba was so famished that he went into a frenzy, scarfing down as much as he could in a very short amount of time. “This is really good,” he garbled with his mouth full. “And it looks great in here! What’d you do?”

Clear shrugged. “I just straightened things up, washed the dishes, vaccuumed, did the laundry...Not that much, really.”

“Wow.” Aoba wondered if there was anything Clear _couldn’t_ do.

"Are you still sleepy?" Clear asked, only partially finished eating (because he was a human being, not a rabid dog like Aoba apparently was).

"Nah, not really. I should probably look over my notes again, anyway--"

"Absolutely not," Clear barked, looking at Aoba kind-of-angrily.

"But finals start in, like, five days!"

"Look at yourself, Aoba! You've neglected your basic needs! What if you get sick? What if something happens to you? Do you value school more than your own health?" Clear's voice rose in volume as he frantically spoke, and by the end of it, he was almost yelling.

Aoba blinked. "It's not like I'm gonna die or anything..."

"Nobody knows when they're going to die," Clear said somberly.

Aoba had no idea why Clear was being so intense about this, but he didn’t think it was appropriate to pry any further. It was obviously a sensitive subject for him, and although Aoba was curious, he figured Clear would open up to him when he was ready.

He shook the thoughts out of his head and reached for Clear’s hands from across the table. “If it means that much to you, I won’t study tonight. I’ll have to do it eventually, but I won’t do it tonight.”

Clear stroked his thumbs over the backs of Aoba’s fingers. “You should try to sleep again, Aoba. Your body needs it.”

Aoba had half a mind to say something stupid like _“the only thing my body needs is some of you”_ but he could tell how serious Clear was, so he didn’t. “I’ll try again a little later. Can we just watch TV or something for now?”

Clear smiled. “Sure.”

They settled in on the couch: Clear sitting cross-legged, Aoba leaning against him with his legs folded. As they went through the channel guide, Clear suggested they watch a cake decorating program. Aoba said that was too boring and snatched the remote from him, choosing a trashy reality show instead. Clear didn’t complain because he liked the drama, too.

The show was about a group of rich women who fought with each other a lot. As they watched them literally rip each other’s hair out, Clear asked Aoba if that was how his friends were with each other. Aoba laughed, thinking that Clear was joking, but it turned out he was serious.

“Of course not! Nobody’s actually like that in real life.”

Clear frowned. “Really?”

“Okay, well, there was one time last year when I was at a party, and a girl came up to my boyfriend and tried to hit on him. I was obviously with him, though. Like, we had been on each other all night, and she probably knew that we were together, so it really pissed me off. So I put on my best twink voice and said, ‘He’s gay, honey,’ and she got really mad and threw her drink at me, but I swear to God that’s the only time I’ve ever been involved in anything like that.”

“Was he cute?”

“Who? My boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Why?”

“Do you have a picture of him?”

Aoba frowned. “Why do you care so much?”

“I’m just curious! I’m not going to get mad at you.”

“Alright, but you have to show me one of your exes, too.”

They ended up pulling out their phones and showing each other all of the people they had previously been with. Aoba had only ever dated (or slept with) men who were quite a bit larger than he was. He was shocked to find that a few of Clear’s ex-partners were the same way, although most of them were closer to Aoba’s size, and one of them was a woman. True to his word, Clear didn’t get angry or jealous about seeing the plethora of men who had also fucked his boyfriend. Aoba didn't feel the same way.

"How is this not bothering you?" Aoba asked in disbelief. "How are you alright with knowing that I've done it with so many other guys?"

Clear shrugged. "What you've done in the past doesn't bother me. All that matters is that I'm the one you want right now."

Aoba didn't like that Clear had kissed other people, or touched them, or looked at them the same way he looked at Aoba. He pouted, but kept his thoughts to himself.

"Does it bother you?" Clear asked, nudging Aoba to get him to look up. Aoba didn't respond, so Clear continued. "It's true that I've been intimate with other people in the past, but you're the only one who's made me feel this way. This is the first time I've fallen this much in love with someone."

Aoba glanced up. "Really?"

Clear smiled. "Really."

Aoba smiled back. He felt a lot better, but he still had a burning question that he needed to ask. "You had sex with a girl?"

Clear's expression flattened. "Yes, I did."

"How long ago?"

"It was back in high school."

"Did you actually like her, or was it, like, a gay test?"

"Aoba!" Clear buried his face in his hands. "Why does it matter?"

"I just wanna know!"

"I liked her."

"Was she your first?"

"Yes. It was really awkward and I was done in thirty seconds."

Aoba snorted as he imagined a gangly, teenaged Clear frantically apologizing to his girlfriend.

"Don't laugh at me! What was your first time like? It couldn't have been any better."

Aoba scoffed. "I'll have you know that I've been incredible in bed since I was sixteen."

Clear raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Obviously not, dumbass. I lost my virginity to a boy who didn't want his friends to know he was into boys, and I was the resident gay kid at my school, so he just came up to me after school and asked me to have sex with him. We went to his house and I pretended I knew what I was doing, but I didn't, and it was awful and embarrassing."

Clear put his arm around Aoba's shoulders. "Well, you certainly know what you're doing now."

"Yeah, I do." Aoba smiled proudly, then softly elbowed Clear in the ribs. "And you last thirty _minutes_ now, don't you, champ?"

"It's all because of you," Clear said, grinning.

"And the seven other guys you slept with before me."

"Aoba!"

"I'm kidding! I'm not mad."

They went back to watching the show, which was nearing the end. When it was over, Aoba started to get up from the couch.

“Where are you going?”

“I can’t remember the last time I showered, so I’m gonna go do that.” He raised an eyebrow at Clear and asked, “Do you wanna come with me?”

Clear looked as though he wanted to say no, but couldn’t. He stood up, too, and followed Aoba to the bathroom.

In Aoba’s past experiences, _“taking a shower together”_ meant having shower sex, so he didn’t think he was doing anything out of the ordinary by pulling Clear in for a kiss once they had stripped down and got under the shower’s spray. Clear seemed to have a problem with it, though.

“Aoba,” he berated, gently pushing him away, “I don’t want you to tire yourself out.”

“Then why did you come with me?”

“I wanted to make sure you didn’t fall or hurt yourself.” Clear reached for the shampoo and squeezed some into his palm, lathering it up. He brought his foamy hands up to Aoba’s scalp and started to scrub his hair.

“I can wash my own hair,” Aoba mumbled, though he didn’t really sound like he minded. Clear’s hands in his hair were really soothing. He tilted his head back to rinse the shampoo out, and then Clear worked some conditioner into his ends.

Aoba picked up the loofah and squirted some body wash onto it. He cleaned himself before Clear could try to do it, but he ended up giving him the loofah so he could wash his back. When he was done, Clear hung the loofah back on the hook and used his hands, instead, to massage Aoba’s body, humming softly as he did. It was so intimate and relaxing that Aoba’s eyelids drooped, body slumping forward against his attentive boyfriend.

“I’munna fall asleep,” he sighed, sleepiness quickly overcoming him.

“Wait!” Clear turned the water off and grabbed a towel from the rack, frantically drying Aoba off. “You can’t fall asleep yet!"

Aoba held onto Clear for support as they got dressed and brushed their teeth. He was too tired to walk the ten-foot-distance to his bed, so Clear carried him. He tucked Aoba into bed and kissed his forehead. “Is there anything you need?”

“I’m fine.” Aoba smiled up at him. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

Aoba was pretty sure Clear was saying something about how he’d always be there for him, but he slipped out of consciousness before he heard all of it.

*     *     *

At about eight o'clock the next morning, as Clear was making pancakes, Aoba got a call on his home phone. It was his parents. They hardly ever called him this early, so it must have been about something important. "Hello?"

"Aoba?” It was his father. He sounded kind of surprised. “You haven’t been answering your phone lately.”

“I’m sorry. I was busy.”

“I’ve been trying to tell you that your mother and I have been thinking about what you said when you called a few weeks ago...and we've decided that we want to meet your boyfriend."

Aoba choked on his coffee. "You what? Really?!"

"Don't get too excited," he warned. "But Haruka insists that we forgive your drunken mistakes and give your...relationship a chance."

"O-Okay."

"I know your exams are coming up, so it’s not a good time right now. Do you have plans for the last weekend of this month?"

"Um, I don’t think we’re busy. Let me ask him."

"He's there with you?"

Oh, fuck. "Yes, but--"

"Put him on."

Aoba winced. "I really don't think--"

"Aoba."

"Dad, please, don't do this..."

"Who's paying for you to be there, Aoba?"

He sighed. "Fine." He stood up from the table and brought the phone over to Clear. "It's my dad," he whispered, handing it over to him.

"Hello?" Clear greeted cautiously. He paused, listening to the other end. "Yes, it is. My name is Clear." He swallowed. "As far as I know, I’m not busy…Yes, that sounds fine…Alright! It was nice talking to you.” Clear hung up, then turned back to the stove to flip the pancakes. "What was that about?"

"Remember when I called my mom when I was drunk?"

"Are they mad? Is this some kind of punishment?"

Aoba put his face in his hands. "I don't know. I'm sorry I got you into this whole mess."

"It's fine." He shrugged. "I had to meet them eventually, right?"

Still feeling guilty, Aoba sighed, staring apologetically at Clear. "It didn't have to be like this." Because of Aoba's thoughtless antics, his parents were going into this with a negative opinion of Clear. It would have been hard as it was to make them approve of their relationship. Now it was going to be next to impossible, and it was all Aoba's fault.

Seeing the despair on Aoba's face, Clear pulled him into a hug. "It's going to be okay."

"But--"

"Shh." He stroked his hair, holding him against his chest. "After all, how could they not like me? I'm charming and adorable," he joked.

Aoba laughed. "I can't argue with that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow it's been exactly a month since i posted the first chapter!! wow i am taking a long time w/ this. also remember how i said this was gonna be 11 chapters? i think we're up to 14 now. damn it
> 
> anyway next chapter has aoba's family in it!! how embarrassed do you think clear can get in front of aoba's parents? you're about to find out


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clear meets Aoba's parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all of the seragakis except for aoba live together jsyk

Today was the day for Clear to meet Aoba's family, and they were both nervous wrecks. Aoba helped Clear get dressed, and he even combed his hair for him. Koujaku had come and taken Ren back to his place so he could watch him while they were gone. There was nothing for them to do but wait. Sei would be coming to pick them up within the hour, and all Aoba could think was how lucky they were that it wasn't going to be someone else.

"Sei!" Aoba greeted when he went downstairs to meet his brother. He sprinted towards him and wrapped him in a hug.

"Aoba," Sei chuckled, squeezing Aoba tightly, then letting go. "Are you excited to see Mom and Dad again?"

Aoba grimaced. "Eugh, no." He grabbed Clear by the arm and presented him to Sei. "But look at my boyfriend! Isn't he cute?"

"I'm Clear," he said as he held his hand out, kind of embarrassed by Aoba's introduction.

"Nice to meet you!" Sei smiled, shaking his offered hand. "I'm Aoba's older brother, Sei."

"We're twins."

"I'm older!"

"By, like, two minutes."

"Four, actually."

Aoba sat in the back of the car with Clear so he wouldn't feel so out of place. They spent the beginning of the ride making casual small talk. Clear occasionally sang along under his breath to the songs on the radio, and Aoba leaned in to hear him better. After a while, he started to sing with him. Sei joined in, too, and soon the three of them were competing to outdo each other. (Clear won.)

"Before we go home," Sei said as he turned into the mall parking lot, "I need to make a stop."

"Why? You wanna visit your boyfriend?" Aoba asked, drawing out the word "boyfriend" like he was twelve years old.

Turns out he was. Aoba and Clear said they'd meet him at the entrance in thirty minutes once he was done visiting his boyfriend (who Aoba didn't know anything about). As they walked around the mall aimlessly, Aoba heard someone familiar call out behind them.

"Well, well."

"If it isn't Aoba."

They turned around to find two almost-identical blond men smirking at them.

"Trip...Virus," Aoba greeted, nodding at each of them in turn. "It's been a while."

"Mmm."

"And who might this be?"

"This is Clear. He's my boyfriend."

"Your boyfriend?"

"Why, I can smell the poverty right on him!" The two of them laughed a kind of obnoxious rich-person laugh, like something out of an old cartoon.

"What, are you his sugar daddy or something?"

"That's so sweet of you to take on a charity case."

"Fuck off," Aoba sneered. "All the money in the world couldn't make you as incredible of a person as him."

Clear just stood there, not saying anything, looking at Aoba in shock.

Trip scoffed. "Whatever. We'll see you later, I'm sure."

Aoba watched as they walked away, blood boiling with rage.

Clear sighed. "I'm sorry, Aoba."

"You're sorry?!" He whipped around to face him. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I knew I was only going to embarrass you." He looked to the floor dejectedly. "I don't fit in. I'm sorry."

Aoba pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "How many times do I have to tell you this? I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you. I'm just embarrassed that they said those things to us."

"But, if I hadn't have been here--"

Aoba fisted his hands in Clear's shirt and pulled him down for the filthiest kiss he could manage in public. He slid his tongue over Clear's and sucked on it, dragging his hands through his hair. When they pulled back, panting, he repeated with emphasis, "I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you."

They still had fifteen minutes to kill, so they went to the hat store and tried on all the silly hats they saw. They were having so much fun that they were five minutes late meeting up with Sei.

The three of them arrived at the Seragaki residence just in time for dinner. Clear couldn't get over how massive their house was, which made Aoba giggle. He looked like a child seeing Disneyland for the first time.

When Aoba’s parents opened the door, though, Clear straightened himself up, trying to seem like a responsible adult who had every right to be dating their son. After a few hugs and some slightly-awkward introductions, they were instructed to wash up for dinner.

“Aoba?” Clear whispered, nudging him with his elbow.

“Yeah?”

“What are we supposed to do with our things?”

Since they were staying overnight, they had brought with them some basic necessities in a suitcase (which was sitting plainly on the floor). Aoba called out for one of the housekeepers to take it away.

Clear watched in stunned silence as a surly-looking man came over and carried the suitcase up the stairs. He turned to Aoba, peering at him curiously. “You have people to do things for you?”

“Yeah,” Aoba said, shrugging. “Why do something yourself if you can pay someone to do it for you?”

Clear blinked once, twice, but didn’t say anything. They washed their hands in the first-floor washroom before heading to the dining room. Naine and Haruka were already sitting down, chatting idly. Aoba beside his father, who was at the head of the table, and Clear sat beside him. Aoba noticed that the collar of Clear’s shirt was a bit rumpled, so he reached out and fixed it for him, patting his shoulders softly when he was done. Clear smiled and did the same to him, though Aoba knew his collar didn’t need straightening.

“So, Clear,” Naine said, and the low rumble of his voice startled the two lovebirds out of their bubble. “Aoba tells us that you work several jobs?”

Aoba didn’t remember telling his parents that. Had Sei been narcing on him? What a slimy little bitch.

“Um, yes, that’s true,” Clear said, nodding. He was fidgeting with his hands in his lap.

“What’s that like? It must be very hard,” Haruka tried to sympathize.

“It’s certainly stressful sometimes, but I have to do what I have to do, right?”

Sei and Tae came to the table, then, so they started to eat. Aoba noticed that Clear’s shoulders had relaxed slightly, probably relieved that he wasn’t the centre of attention.

Unfortunately, that didn’t last long.

“Did you go to college?” Naine asked, obviously not finished grilling Clear.

“For a little while, yes, but I wasn’t able to finish.”

“You never told me you went to college!” Aoba grumbled under his breath.

Clear shrugged a little bit. “You never asked.”

“What did you study?” Aoba’s mother asked, showing genuine interest.

“I was studying music. I wanted to be a musician.”

“Well, you kind of are now, aren’t you?” Sei chimed in from across the table.

Clear smiled at him. “I suppose that’s true.”

Tae started grumbling about how artists these days aren’t anywhere near as good as they were when she was in her prime. Everyone at the table stopped talking and listened respectfully. When she was done, the room was quiet for a minute.

"Can you pass the salt, please, daddy?" Aoba asked, breaking the silence. He looked up and saw Naine and Clear both reach for it at the same time.

Aoba's father pulled his hand back. "Um."

Clear's eyes widened and he waved his hands around frantically, face as red as a beet. "Oh my gosh, I-I-I'm so sorry!"

Aoba covered his mouth with his hands. "Oh my God." He felt like his head was going to explode from the amount of blood rushing to his face. "I...um...I didn't mean..." He looked at his family. Sei and Tae were almost laughing, but his parents looked horrified. "I don't...call him that... _all_ the time..."

Everyone snapped around to look at him in disbelief. _"Aoba!"_

Sei and Tae (and even Haruka) started giggling, then, and soon everyone was laughing, including Clear. The rest of dinner went smoothly.

*     *     *

Though Aoba's parents already knew that he and Clear were sexually active, they placed them in separate bedrooms. When it was time to go to bed, they kissed each other goodnight (extremely chastely) and went their separate ways. But Aoba was determined to see Clear again that night.

After an hour of laying in bed, not even the slightest bit sleepy, Aoba took his phone off the nightstand and texted Clear.

"Hey baby (ﾉ´з｀)ノ I wish we could be together!"

Clear replied a moment later. "I know, I've gotten so used to sharing a bed with you that I might not be able to fall asleep alone! Haha."

Aoba smiled as he read Clear's message. Though he made it seem like a joke, he knew what Clear was saying was true, and Aoba actually agreed with him. It would be difficult to fall asleep without the warmth of Clear's body pressed up against him.

But he was craving a lot more than just snuggling with Clear, so he slipped out of bed and walked over to the full-body mirror on the far side of the room, turning a lamp on as he went. He slid out of his clothes and touched himself until he was hard. Selecting the camera app on his phone, he posed in a manner that drew attention to his ass and winked at the camera. He took a few pictures like that, choosing the best one to attach to a message to Clear.

"I really wish you were here with me (*¯ ³¯*)♡" was the text he sent along with the picture.

Clear took a while to reply. "Are you like that right now?? (ﾟロﾟ)"

"Yeah bby ♡⌒(≧▽° ) send me a pic of you!"

After a few minutes, Clear sent him a picture of himself, naked, holding his hard cock in one hand, half-smiling and looking into the camera. He followed it up by saying, "Is that good?"

“Absolutely (*♡∀♡) I really wanna see you!!”

“We shouldn’t try anything. What if we get caught?”

“Everyone’s rooms are on the floor above us, so we could go down to the basement and nobody would know! Do you know how to get there?”

“Not really.”

“Ok, meet me at the staircase! But be really quiet!!!!”

"Okay ╰(*´︶`*)╯"

Aoba hastily threw his clothes back on (and slipped some lube in his hoodie pocket) before slowly creeping to the staircase. He waited for a minute until Clear arrived, swiveling his head around nervously as he tiptoed over. Aoba took his hand and wordlessly led him to the basement. He hadn’t told Clear this, but the Seragaki residence had an indoor pool in the basement. It was ridiculous, really, that his parents still kept the pool running all the time. Aoba and Sei had played in it when they were kids, but nobody used it anymore.

Until now.

He navigated through the dark basement, following the smell of chlorine until he found the door to the pool. He let them inside, making sure the door shut quietly behind them. The room was dark, with just a small amount of moonlight flowing in from a series of windows high up on the walls.

“There’s a pool in here?!” Clear whisper-shouted in excitement.

“Yeah.” He pulled his shirt over his head.

“Are we going to have sex in it?”

“We’re gonna try,” Aoba said, laughing. He took the rest of his clothes off and stepped into the pool, wading further in until he was knee-deep in the water. He looked up at Clear, gesturing him forward. “Come on!”

Clear shuffled his feet, hesitating. Eventually, he shrugged out of his clothes, too, and followed Aoba into the water.

"What if someone sees us?" Clear asked, still whispering.

"Nobody's gonna see us! And stop whispering; no one can hear us, either. The walls are soundproofed." He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Hey, Dad! I'm down here with my boyfriend and we're totally gonna have sex, even though you tried to stop--mmf!" He was silenced by Clear's mouth pressing against his own. Aoba melted against him as he felt hands sliding down from his hair to his waist, then separating as one drifted up to play with his chest and the other moved down to grip his ass.

"Fuck, Clear..." He breathed once they broke apart, sliding his open mouth across Clear's jaw and down his neck. He stopped to nibble here and there, making sure to leave a few lovebites.

Clear pulled back after a while, gazing at Aoba fondly. "You look really beautiful right now. I mean, you look beautiful all the time, but...I can't stop staring at you."

As they stood there, admiring each other, Aoba got so wrapped up in all of Clear's smooth, glossy skin and the way the pale moonlight highlighted the ridges of his body that he didn't notice the mischievous glint in his eye. Next thing he knew, he was on his ass in the water, Clear hovering over him on his hands and knees.

Aoba sputtered for a moment, wiping the water from his face. He stared incredulously at the snickering man above him. "You're such an asshole!"

"You're the one who wanted to get in the water."

Aoba glowered at him, splashing Clear in an attempt at revenge. Clear flinched and cried out in shock, then pushed Aoba further into the water, hands creeping to his sides as he started to tickle him.

"S-Stop! Fuck, s-stop it!" Aoba cried between bouts of giggles. He kicked his legs and tried to squirm out of Clear's grasp, but it was futile. Clear tickled him until he was gasping and tears streamed down his face. When he finally stopped tickling him, Aoba took the opportunity to tackle Clear, pushing him further and further into the deeper end of the water. They roughhoused their way to the other side of the pool, which was so deep that their feet couldn’t touch the bottom, so they held onto the edge for support.

Clear’s hair was wet, so Aoba ran his hands through it to push it back. Clear did the same to him, smiling at him as he did. “You look cute with your hair away from your face.”

“Cute?” Aoba repeated. “We’re about to have sex and you say I’m cute?”

Clear chuckled. “Just because I think you’re cute doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re sexy, too.”

They shared a heated look for a moment. Aoba broke it, though, when he started to move away, pointing his thumb in the direction of their clothes. “I’m gonna get the stuff from my pocket.”

Clear nodded, and Aoba swam away, fetching the lube from his sweatshirt. He kept digging in the pocket before he realized that he forgot something.

“Oh, fuck!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I forgot to bring a condom!” He swam back over to Clear, holding the bottle of lube between his teeth.

Thankfully, Clear didn’t look angry at the turn of events. “What do you want to do?”

"Well, um." Aoba swallowed. "Have you been...tested recently? For infections and stuff?"

"Of course I have," Clear assured. "If there's anything Grandfather taught me, it's that being mindful of your health is the best thing you can do for yourself."

"Okay, well, uh, I have, too, and I'm fine, so...do you want to just...do it without one?"

“Without a condom?” Clear looked like he was taking a moment to process what Aoba had suggested. "Are you sure you want to? It might be kind of...messy.”

“It’s fine! I want to.” He crossed his arms and rested them on the edge of the pool, facing away from Clear. He tossed the lube back in Clear’s general direction, then relaxed his head in his arms. “Go for it.”

Aoba heard water sloshing behind him. Suddenly, his torso was lifted up out of the water so he was floating on the surface, his thighs spread apart with Clear between them. Clear pressed a soft kiss to his lower back and said, “I’m sorry, Aoba, but this is the only way I can get to your--”

“I get it! It’s okay. This is fine.” He closed his eyes and arched his back slightly as he waited for Clear to put his fingers in. He eventually did feel him start to prod around back there, but it wasn’t with his fingers; he felt Clear’s tongue swipe at him a few times, tentative, but Aoba didn’t protest. This wasn’t the first time Clear had done this to him, so he wasn’t startled or anything, but he still hadn’t been expecting it.

Clear paused his gentle licking to ask, “Are you uncomfortable at all?”

“I’m fine! Stop asking me if everything is okay.”

“I just want to make sure--”

“I know, Clear. And I appreciate it, but you don’t have to be so careful all the time.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not gonna break!” Aoba assured, chuckling. “You’re allowed to be a little rough with me.”

Clear huffed and went back to rimming him, wetly dragging his tongue over his opening. He gently worked about an inch of his tongue past the first ring of muscle, and Aoba almost lost his grip on the tiled floor. Clear spread Aoba’s cheeks further apart with one hand so he could really get in there, and though Aoba was moaning pretty loudly, he could hear Clear making sounds of pleasure through his nose as he ate him out.

“Clear...fingers…” Aoba managed to gasp out, trying to tell Clear that he needed to use his fingers, too.

Clear pulled back. “Oh, right! Sorry.” He slid two slippery fingers inside Aoba a moment later and, for once, didn’t ask him a million times if he was okay. As he slowly worked up to four fingers, he pressed open-mouth kisses all over his ass and the backs of his thighs.

“I’m ready,” Aoba said. “You can put it in now.”

Clear let go of Aoba, letting his torso back into the water so he was back in his original position. He lubricated his dick as best he could, given the circumstances, and got behind Aoba, gripping the edge of the pool with one hand for support.

“So,” Clear mumbled, “Here I go.” He kissed Aoba’s neck as he pushed into him.

Aoba groaned in the back of his throat, inching his hips back against Clear until he was all the way in. He grinded back in little circles as he adjusted to the thickness of his cock. It excited him to know that what he was feeling was entirely Clear and nothing else, and that Clear was feeling all of him, too.

“Does it feel okay?” Clear asked into his ear. “Is it different for you?”

“Yeah, it’s...different.” He grinded against him again, moaning. “It’s good.”

The water shifted as Clear thrusted, and the cool, rushing sensation was surprisingly pleasant. The temperature of the water was just barely lukewarm, but Clear’s body pressing up against him was hot, and the contrast heightened Aoba’s senses. He scrabbled at the tile as Clear’s wandering hand danced over his front, teasing his nipples and sensually stroking his skin.

“I-It feels good, Clear, but…”

“But what?”

“But, do you think, maybe...you could go a little harder?” He swallowed, waiting for Clear to respond. Several seconds passed and Clear was still going at the same pace, so Aoba tried again. “I just want to feel you as much as I can. And, like I said before, you aren’t gonna break me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Clear held onto the pool’s edge with both hands and lifted himself up slightly so he was supporting most of his body weight with his palms. He gradually quickened his pace, thrusting into Aoba with increasing force.

“Is that...better?” He asked, panting heavily with exertion.

Aoba nodded and cried out wordlessly. Clear’s cock was hot and dripping inside of him, and it turned Aoba on to be able to feel him so intimately. He knew Clear was feeling it, too; he was openly moaning into Aoba’s ear, occasionally kissing his neck.

“A-Aoba, you feel so _good_...I don’t think I’m going to be able to last much longer.” He groaned in the back of his throat. “I’m sorry.”

Aoba laughed. “You don’t need to apologize; I’m gonna come soon, too.”

Clear’s movements were growing unruly and wild, and Aoba knew they wouldn’t last more than a few minutes. He slammed his hips back as Clear went forward, perfectly in sync like some kind of fine-tuned machine.

“Do you want me to pull out?” Clear rasped, the tremor in his voice suggesting he needed Aoba’s answer _now._

“No,” Aoba breathed. “You can c-come inside me.”

Having been given permission, Clear pushed in as far as he could go, pinning Aoba to the wall of the pool by his hips. He gasped out one long, continuous moan as he reached his climax. Aoba could feel him swelling and throbbing, and then felt him coming in hot, wet pulses inside of him. It was so erotic, having Clear fill him with his come, that his own orgasm immediately followed; he cried out brokenly and kicked his legs in all directions as he shot his come into the (once-clean) pool water, twitching in Clear’s arms. He slumped back against him a moment later.

“Oh my God,” they both whispered at the same time.

Clear pulled out, then, and turned Aoba around so they were facing each other. They smiled at each other, eyes lidded, before leaning in and bringing their lips together. It was a messy, lazy kiss, and it would have gone on longer had the pool not been so cold all of a sudden. Though they didn’t really want to move, they knew they needed to go back to their rooms, so they swam to the other side of the pool and got out. Aoba’s teeth were chattering as he went to get some towels from the closet. He bundled Clear up first, using as many towels as he could in an effort to get him warm. He wrapped himself up, too, and they stood there for a while until they felt dry enough to get dressed again.

Before they went back upstairs, Clear drew Aoba into his arms and held him there, sighing wistfully. “I wish we could snuggle.”

“Me too.” Aoba pecked him on the chin, where his moles were, before leading him out the door.

*     *     *

At breakfast the next morning, as Aoba and Clear sat down at the table, Naine looked around curiously, sniffing the air.

"Does anyone else smell chlorine?"

Aoba choked on his own spit. After a brief coughing fit, he croaked out, "I don't smell anything."

"No, no, he's right! It definitely smells like the pool," Haruka said, eyes wide. "That's really strange. Maybe it's coming through a vent?"

"Yeah!" Aoba bobbed his head with enthusiasm. "That's gotta be it."

The conversation shifted to another subject, and Aoba reached for Clear’s hand under the table, squeezing it once he found it.

When it was time for Sei to drive them home again, Aoba’s parents gave him several goodbye hugs. They weren’t quite as friendly with Clear, but they were more than just polite to him, which led Aoba to believe that they would warm up to him someday. At least they didn’t dislike him, right?

On the way home, Aoba sat in the passenger seat, leaving Clear in the back by himself. He didn’t feel too bad, though, because he checked on him after five minutes and found him fast asleep. Aoba spent the rest of the drive chatting idly with his brother and making fun of things they saw on the side of the road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd like to take this opportunity to announce that i've started planning my next fic. its gonna be a mermaid au and it's actually gonna have a plot!!! can you believe it?? lmao


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba asks Clear to take a step in their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm trying to pick up my pace!! there are still five chapters to go and i want to have them all posted before the end of the month so i hope you all have your reading glasses on!!

Aoba had been doing a lot of thinking lately. His apartment was really too big for one person, even with the addition of Ren, and Clear's workplaces were closer to Aoba's apartment than they were to his own house. They had been dating for a while, and Aoba didn't think that was going to change anytime soon, so he had come to a conclusion.

"I think you should move in with me."

Clear looked up at Aoba from across the restaurant table, a single noodle hanging from his mouth. He slurped it up a moment later and swallowed. "What?"

Aoba fidgeted with his hands. "I think it would be better for both of us if you did. And you wouldn't have to pay any rent or anything; don't worry."

"Are you sure you don't mind? I mean...I'd hate to be a burden on you."

"Clear!" Aoba scolded. "Don't say stuff like that! I hate when you have to go home, so why wouldn't I want you to live with me?"

"I would love to live with you." Clear assured. “But I can’t help but feel that Trip and Virus were kind of right about us.”

Aoba frowned. “What do you mean?”

Clear giggled and took another bite of his noodles. “You’re my sugar daddy.”

“I am not!”

“You kind of are.”

Aoba knew in the back of his mind that Clear was right. Though fundamentally their relationship was just like anyone else’s, Aoba spent a lot of money on Clear, and at this point, they had kind of just accepted that that was the way it was going to be. But it wasn’t like Aoba bought him things in exchange for sex or anything! Sure, they had sex pretty frequently, but that’s just how they were; they liked to express their feelings for each other physically. There was nothing wrong with that!

“Even if that were true, _which it isn’t,”_   he said pointedly, “Who cares? I certainly don’t.”

Clear smiled and took his hand from across the table. “I don’t mind it, either.”

Over the next week, Clear gradually brought his things to Aoba’s apartment (since Aoba had given him a key). He left most of his stuff at the house he used to share with his grandfather, though, because he didn’t really need all of it. Aoba asked him what he was going to do with the house, and Clear said he didn’t know. He didn’t want to sell it (not now, anyway), so he figured he would just leave it the way it was for a while.

Since it was Clear’s apartment, too, now, Aoba let him make some aesthetic changes. All Clear really wanted to do was put some framed pictures of his parents and grandfather in a few places, but Aoba was having none of that. Claiming that it was about time he redecorated a little bit, he took Clear to a high-end furniture store and told him to pick some things that he liked. Though he protested at first, Aoba managed to get him to look around a bit. Clear eventually found a spiral-shaped glass sculpture that he liked. It was part of a set, each one a different colour, so Aoba put all of them into his basket.

“Ehh, Aoba, isn’t that too many? WIll we have room for all of them?”

“Yeah, we can put some of them in the main room, and some of them in our bedroom. Don’t you think they’d look pretty in the windowsill?”

"Yeah, they would." Clear had a dopey grin on his face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You said _'our_ bedroom.'"

Aoba blushed a little bit. "So what? It _is_ our bedroom now."

"I know." Clear giggled and kissed him on the forehead. "I just like being reminded.”

“Idiot,” Aoba murmured fondly. He wanted to kiss Clear, but they were in public, so he felt awkward about it. Looking around, though, he realized they were in a kind of secluded area, so he quickly pecked him on the lips, then turned away before Clear could try to escalate things (which he definitely would). “Come on! We’ve barely looked at anything.” He shoved the basket into Clear’s arms and started walking down another aisle.

Clear followed Aoba around dutifully, carrying everything and giving his opinions on things when Aoba asked for them. They picked out some new picture frames (because the ones Clear had brought with him were so fucking ratty), and a full-body mirror that Clear seemed weirdly enamoured with, amongst a few other knick-knacks. Aoba was considering getting one of those collage frame things to fill with pictures of the two of them, but Clear brought up a very valid point: they didn’t _have_ any pictures together. After a brief moment of almost-sadness, Aoba pulled out his phone and pulled Clear in towards him for a selfie.

“There!” He said triumphantly as he looked at the picture (which was actually pretty cute). “Now all we have to do is take seven more!” He carefully wedged the frame into their already-stuffed-full basket.

As they were making their way to the checkout area, Clear gasped and stopped walking. Aoba followed Clear’s gaze and saw two lamps of different colours with dome-shaped shades that had long, wavy tendrils coming down from the edges. He could tell they were supposed to be jellyfish.

“Oh my gosh, Aoba,” he breathed, “Can we get them? Please?”

“I don’t see why not,” Aoba shrugged, and picked them both up. There was no room left in the basket, so he carried them.

They approached the checkout desk and piled their finds on the counter. The cashier rang them through silently until they got to the jellyfish lamps, upon which they started to giggle.

“These are cute,” they said. “And they kind of look like you guys!”

Aoba looked at the lamps and realized, for the first time, that one was blue and the other was white. “Oh my God, that’s embarrassing.”

“It is?” Clear asked.

“When we have people over, they’re gonna notice!”

“We could put them in our room, then! Nobody will see them but us.”

“Do you still want them?” The cashier asked.

Aoba huffed. “Yeah, I guess.”

“W-Well, if you don’t want to, Aoba, we really don’t have to--”

“No, I want to.”

They awkwardly carried their cumbersome purchases home, as the store hadn’t been very far away. Not really having the energy to move everything around just yet, they put everything on the floor in a big pile and forgot about it.

"We should take a nap," Aoba suggested, yawning. Clear agreed, so they went to their bedroom to lie down. They were asleep within five minutes.

*     *     *

_Clear's hands slid over Aoba's body slowly, teasingly, as he mouthed at his neck. Aoba moaned, clutching at the sheets, feeling as though he was melting into the mattress. Clear's mouth descended to his chest, stopping to suck at his nipples before moving to his stomach, then to his hips. Lifting Aoba's thighs up and spreading them apart, he kissed lower and lower until Aoba couldn't see him anymore. He waited in anticipation, then gasped and tossed his head back when he felt Clear's tongue circle his--_

"Aoba? Aoba, are you alright?"

Aoba blinked a few times as his eyes focused and Clear came into view. He was confused as to why Clear was looking at him with concern instead of eating his ass. "What's going on?"

"You were making a lot of noise. Were you having a bad dream?"

Oh. "Uh...no, I wasn't."

"You were panting and thrashing around, and you said my name a few times--"

Aoba blushed. "I'm fine! It's fine. I wasn't having a bad dream."

"Then what...?" Clear looked like he was thinking really hard about it. After a moment, realization dawned on his face. "Aoba, you naughty thing!"

Aoba hid his face in his hands. "Shut up!"

Clear seemed very interested in the topic. "What were we doing?"

"I don't wanna talk about it!"

"Aoba," Clear chided, prying his hands away from his blushing face. "Don't be so embarrassed! If you can't talk about these kinds of things with me, who can you talk about them with?"

Aoba huffed. "Before you woke me up, you were...about to rim me."

Clear perked up. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to do it now?" He asked excitedly. "I really love doing it!"

"I know you do," Aoba assured, laughing a little bit. Clear was always very enthusiastic about going down on Aoba, especially when it meant going _really_ far down. He was sloppy when he did it, and he usually went in pretty deep, which was exactly how Aoba liked it.

"Is that a yes?"

Aoba hummed noncommittally. Though he was horny from the dream he’d just had, he wasn’t sure if he was in the mood to have his salad tossed. "I definitely want to have sex, but I kind of just want to do the...main...thing. Is that alright?"

"If that's what you want, I'll give it to you." He pulled Aoba closer so that he was straddling him, sitting in his lap. "After all, it's been a few days since the last time we made love."

Not this again! Aoba glared at Clear, blushing all over again. "You're so embarrassing! Stop calling it that!"

"What would you like me to call it instead? I'll call it whatever you want."

"How about you just call it 'fucking' like everybody else under the age of forty does?"

"No. Besides, it's just the two of us here--"

"And Ren."

"Right. The two of us and Ren. So why are you getting so embarrassed? Ren isn't going to make fun of you, and I won't, either."

Aoba pouted. "That's not the point."

"Maybe it'll be easier if you say it?" Clear prompted. "Just say it once, in a sentence."

"If I do it, will you shut up?"

"Yes!"

Looking down at his fidgeting hands in his lap, Aoba mumbled, "I want you to _make love_ to me." He said it so quietly that he doubted Clear had heard him.

"Aobaaa!" Clear cried, squeezing him in a hug. "That was so cute!"

"Y-You heard that?!"

"Yes! I hear everything." He kissed Aoba on the cheek. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I guess not," he grumbled.

Clear then rolled them over so he was on top of Aoba, kneeling between his legs. "I love you so much."

Aoba and Clear weren't the type of people who said "I love you" all the time; they preferred to show it with actions rather than words. So, whenever Clear actually said it (which he did sometimes), Aoba got so flustered that he could hardly speak. "Um. Thank...you. I...uh...also...um. I do, too."

Clear giggled. "You're going to have to work on that, honey."

Aoba wanted to inquire further, ask what he meant by that, but then Clear tugged his own shirt over his head and turned every thought in Aoba's head to mush. He was so preoccupied with ogling Clear that he barely registered that his own jeans were being unzipped.

"Aoba?" Clear paused in his movements, staring at Aoba's open fly.

"Yeah?"

"Do you usually wear panties?"

Aoba blushed, covering his face with his hands as he remembered his choice of undergarments that morning. "Not really but...they're all I had left that was clean."

"You should wear them more often," Clear breathed. He then slid Aoba's jeans off his legs, leaving his panties on. He dug around in his pocket for a second, and Aoba watched in confusion as he pulled his phone out. He scoffed incredulously when he heard the sound of a picture being taken.

“What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Clear smiled innocently. “You said we needed to take more pictures!”

“N-Not like that!”

“You don’t think we should put this one on the wall?” Clear pouted, showing him the photo. It depicted Aoba, laying there in his sweater and bright pink lace underwear, legs spread open, obviously aroused. He was squinting at the camera curiously.

“Absolutely not!” He barked, snatching Clear’s phone away and putting it on the nightstand (though he didn’t delete the picture). He lay back down on the bed, looking at Clear expectantly.

"Do you want me to start touching you?" Clear asked, reading Aoba's expression.

"Yeah."

"Where do you want me to start?"

Aoba blushed and turned his face away. "I don't know. Just do what you always do."

Clear nodded, then started to inch his way down Aoba’s body. He kissed down his neck, then pushed his sweater up and kissed at his chest. When he finally settled between his legs, Aoba was about to remind him that he didn’t want to be rimmed, but he chose to wait and see what Clear was going to do. Clear glanced up, meeting Aoba’s gaze, and licked a stripe up his cock through the lace of his panties. It was so vulgar that Aoba had to look away. His curiosity got the best of him, though, and he looked back down to find that Clear was still staring up, dragging his tongue over him like it was some kind of erotic popsicle.

“C-Clear, come on,” Aoba urged, wanting to move it along. Clear obediently climbed back up so he was hovering over him again, bending down and kissing Aoba sweetly on the lips. Usually, when they had sex, their kisses were open-mouthed and messy and hot. The way Clear had just kissed him was none of those things, which left Aoba confused.

Clear nuzzled their noses together and whispered, "I love you more than anything in the whole world."

Aoba narrowed his eyes, though his heart fluttered. "You said that already."

"Am I not allowed to tell you more than once?" He cocked his head to the side curiously. "Besides, if I'm going to be making love to you, I want the _love_ to have extra emphasis."

Clear shifted away to take his pants off while Aoba slid out of the rest of his clothes. Once they were both naked, Aoba made to get the lube from the bedside table, but Clear stopped him with a hand on his chest. He slid that hand down Aoba's body, slowly, stopping at his hip where he gently stroked up and down. "You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He was admiring Aoba's form as if he were a piece of fine art and not his boyfriend who he saw naked _all the time_. Of course Aoba liked it when Clear said nice things to him, but he already knew that Clear loved him, and that he thought he was beautiful. So why was Clear going on like this?

While Aoba was lost in his thoughts, Clear had retrieved the lube and was starting to spread Aoba's legs apart. Aoba held his thighs open obediently while Clear slicked his fingers up. Before he put them in, though, he gazed lovingly at Aoba's sensitive area, murmuring, "Even here, you're so beautiful..."

Aoba's face burned. "Perv!"

"I'm not a perv! I just think you're beautiful. All of you."

"Whatever," Aoba grumbled. He relaxed against the bed as Clear worked his fingers in. He couldn’t help but whimper as he felt Clear gently stroking his walls, slowly stretching him out.

Clear stared down at him with a hazy look in his eye. “Can I be inside of you soon?”

Aoba nodded, reaching back to pull Clear’s wrist away. “You can go in now, if you want.”

“Do you want me to wear a condom?”

Aoba shook his head silently. Ever since they had stopped using condoms, he felt that their sex was more intimate. There was more of an emphasis on the two of them bonding emotionally as well as physically and oh God, Clear was definitely poisoning Aoba's brain.

Aoba pulled Clear down until their chests were pressed together, holding him tightly as his cock slid in.

“Fuck!” He gasped out, wrapping his legs around Clear’s hips. When Clear was all the way in, he paused to let Aoba adjust. They were so close that their noses were touching, and they had no choice but to look into each other’s eyes.

“Are you alright?” Clear asked softly. Aoba could feel his breath puffing out as he spoke.

“Yeah.”

After hearing Aoba’s answer, Clear started to move. He pulled back until he was almost all the way out and then, very slowly, thrusted in as deep as he could. He kissed Aoba and caressed his upper body while he repeated the same motion over and over again. Aoba usually preferred to be taken hard and fast, but he had to admit that the way Clear had chosen to do it was nice.

The slow pace meant that they weren’t spiraling at maximum speed towards climax, so they were able to relish the time spent in their little bubble of intimacy. Clear was looking at Aoba with a mixture of lust and affection while he stroked into him unhurriedly. He captured his lips in a tender kiss, lingering for several seconds before pulling away.

“I love you, Aoba.”

Aoba couldn’t find it in himself to feel embarrassed or nervous about hearing those words, not when he was holding Clear so tightly that he thought they might fuse together. He smiled up at him and said, quietly, “I love you, too, Clear.”

Clear’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. After a moment, he smiled and pressed a fleeting kiss to Aoba’s lips, and then another and another and another until Aoba was giggling. He kept kissing Aoba all over his face, murmuring “I love you, I love you, I love you” all the while. Aoba said it back each time.

Eventually, their arousal increased to the point where they couldn’t ignore it anymore, and the mood shifted slightly; Clear sped up a little bit, though he tried to stay in control of his movements, and Aoba’s breathy sighs grew louder and louder until he was crying out Clear’s name at the top of his lungs.

Clear changed the angle of his hips so that he was hitting Aoba’s prostate more directly, causing Aoba to lose what little self-restraint he had left. He slid his open mouth over Clear’s neck, biting down occasionally as he gasped and moaned against his skin. Clear didn’t seem to mind.

“Do you want me to--”

“No, it’s fine.” Aoba cut Clear off, knowing what he was going to ask. _Do you want me to pull out?_ He always asked, and the answer was always the same. Aoba didn’t know why he even bothered anymore.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Aoba breathed. He swallowed his embarrassment and whispered, “I want you to fill me with your love.” It was a stupid thing to say, he knew, but he also knew that it was exactly the kind of cheesy, romantic garbage that Clear loved, so he did it for him (and if the look in his eyes was anything to go by, Clear really appreciated it).

Clear aimed one more thrust directly at Aoba's prostate and it was too much. With a loud moan of Clear's name, he came, spurting come between their bodies and clamping down on Clear's cock.

"A-Aoba...squeezing me so t-tightly..." Clear choked out right before his hips stuttered and he reached his orgasm, spilling his release deep inside of Aoba. He relaxed after a few seconds and rolled over so he was laying beside Aoba on the bed. Aoba turned on his side so he could snuggle up with him.

As he pressed a series of chaste kisses to Clear's beauty marks, Aoba realized that he didn't have to worry about Clear eventually going home. Clear _was_ home, and the thought was so wonderful that Aoba could almost feel his heart swelling in his chest.

Clear must have noticed Aoba's change in mood because he raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are you so giddy about?"

"I'm just happy that you're here with me," Aoba said, smiling a little bit. "I love you."

"Aoba," Clear cooed, eyes warmer than the sun. "I love you, too."

*     *     *

The next morning, they decided to get it over with and rearrange the apartment before they could procrastinate. But then Clear said they needed to eat breakfast first, and Aoba said he wanted omurice. Clear started to get the ingredients out and he noticed that they didn't have ketchup, but Aoba said it wouldn't be omurice without ketchup, so Clear suggested they just eat something else, but Aoba said he really wanted omurice, so they had to go to the store to get some ketchup. It's not like they were putting it off or anything; Aoba just really wanted omurice! That was all.

As they were heading out, Aoba's next-door neighbour came into the hall at the same time.

"Good morning, Mink," Aoba greeted.

"Good morning."

"Oh! Right," Aoba said, remembering that Clear hadn't met any of the neighbours yet. "Mink, this is my boyfriend--"

"Clear, is it?"

"Yes!" Clear chirped, shaking Mink's hand. "I just moved in. Has Aoba told you about me before?"

"Something like that," Mink gruffed. Aoba thought he saw him smirk a little bit. "Welcome to the building."

"Thank you very much!" Clear beamed. As he and Aoba walked away, he asked Aoba how Mink had known his name.

"I don't know," Aoba answered genuinely. "I hardly ever speak to him."

Clear gasped in shock, clutching Aoba's arm. "You don't think...?"

"Think what?"

"That he heard us last night?"

Realization hit Aoba like a bus. "Oh my God." He staggered towards the wall and leaned against it for support. "We have to move."

Clear giggled behind his palm. “Don’t be so dramatic! He probably just overheard us talking or something.” He grabbed Aoba by the arm and pulled him towards the stairs. “Come on! I thought you wanted omurice?”

Aoba didn’t really want omurice that much, but anything was better than moving furniture around, so he followed Clear down the stairs and out of the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't believe i put the words "have his salad tossed" into my fic. forgive me Lord


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba's birthday rolls around. Clear insists on a celebration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is basically just 6000 words of *jeremih voice* birthday sex
> 
> but i mean. what do you get the man who has everything?? a whole lotta dick.
> 
> uhhhhh spoiler alert but bdsm warning!!!

Aoba was perfectly content with ignoring his birthday altogether. It had already passed, and he figured it had been long enough that nobody was going to notice. He forgot to take into account, however, that Clear was the most attentive person in the whole universe, and that there was no way he would let it go by without a celebration.

So, during breakfast one morning, he was annoyed to hear him say, “Your birthday was on the twenty-second, wasn’t it, Aoba?”

“Yeah.”

“We haven’t celebrated it yet.”

“I know. I had finals, and then we had to go visit my parents...But I don’t mind not celebrating it.”

"You don't like birthdays?"

"Not really. They were fun when I was a kid, but now they're just kind of depressing." He sipped at his coffee. "When's your birthday?"

"February twentieth."

Aoba paused, cup still raised to his lips. "We started dating at the end of January."

"Yes, we did."

"It’s May."

"Yes…?"

"So why didn't you tell me when it was your birthday?!"

Clear laughed sheepishly. "Uh, to be honest, I kind of forgot, and by the time I remembered, it was too late."

Aoba slammed his cup down with indignation. "Then we'll celebrate both of our birthdays!"

"Ehh?"

"Instead of just celebrating mine, we'll celebrate yours, too!"

"Aoba, that really isn't necessary! I mean, it's a celebration of the day you were born. Why would you want to share that with someone?"

"Because I care about you!" Aoba barked. "But if it bothers you that much, we can celebrate yours the day after."

"That sounds better."

*     *     *

Aoba's birthday celebration came first, for which he was grateful. Depending on what Clear did for him, Aoba figured he would adjust his own plans.

When he woke up, Clear wasn't in bed with him. Aoba heard sizzling and chopping coming from the kitchen, so he rolled out of bed and followed the sound.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Good morning, Clear."

"Happy birthday, Master!" Clear chirped. Aoba glanced up, then did a double take. Clear was wearing a frilly pink apron and absolutely nothing else.

"Um." Aoba didn't look up from Clear's exposed backside as he spoke. "That's an interesting outfit you've got on."

"Do you like it?" Clear asked, beaming. He twirled around, and Aoba noticed that he could see his dick print through the fabric.

"Yeah." He swallowed. “Wait. Did you just call me ‘Master?’”

“Yes, I did! Today, you’re my master!” He winked and wiggled his hips a little bit. “I am completely at your mercy.”

Aoba covered his blushing face with his hands. “You’re an idiot.”

Clear didn’t reply. When Aoba looked back up at him, he saw that his mouth was still frozen in a smile, though his eyes looked troubled. “You...don’t like my idea?”

“That’s not what I meant!” Aoba assured, frantic. “It’s just...what do you want me to do?”

“That’s the thing!” Clear said, back in high spirits. “I want you to do what you want.”

“So…” Aoba trailed off, thinking. “If I were to ask you to put on one of my pairs of heels, you would do it?”

“You have more than one pair of heels?”

“Answer the question!” Aoba grumbled, embarrassed that Clear had caught that.

“I absolutely would! Do you want me to?”

“You know what?” Aoba asked rhetorically, stomping back into the bedroom. He went into his side of the closet and took out his biggest pair of shoes (with a six-inch heel, no less) and brought them out to Clear. “I _do_ want you to wear them.”

Grinning, Clear sat on the floor and strapped his feet into the elaborate shoes. When he was done, he held a hand out and Aoba helped him wobble up to a standing position.

“How do they feel?”

He winced. “They’re tight, but I probably have about an hour before my toes start to fall off.” He shared a laugh with Aoba before resuming his task.

Aoba hoisted himself up so he was sitting on the counter, though he was safely out of Clear’s way.“What are you making?”

Clear went on to explain in great detail the extravagant breakfast he was preparing. Although Aoba really appreciated it, he wasn’t listening at all. If he thought it was difficult to tear his eyes away from Clear’s ass before, it was downright impossible now that he was wearing those shoes. They made his entire lower body look incredible. He had originally made Clear put them on as a form of punishment for embarrassing him, but now he was just appreciating the view.

“It’s ready!” Clear sang, turning the burners on the stove off. He plated everything and was about to carry it to the table, but Aoba stopped him.

“You can take the shoes off now. I’d hate to see you fall and ruin all your hard work.”

“Whatever you say!” He bent over and unfastened the shoes, carefully nudging them away with his feet. Aoba tried not to focus too hard on the sensual curve of his back as he rose. He waited patiently as Clear fussed about setting the table, then sat down with him to eat.

“So, Koujaku and Noiz wanted me to go drinking with them to celebrate,” Aoba mumbled between bites of food. “I said I could do it next week instead, unless...you don’t have anything planned?”

“Don’t worry! I do.” He smiled, but then his expression turned worried. “But it doesn’t involve drinking. Do you want to do that?”

“I’m fine with whatever you’ve arranged. Besides, I need to call my brother at some point, and that might be hard to do if I'm hammered all day.”

Once they were finished eating (and Aoba was finished raving about how good it was), Clear got up to wash the dishes. Aoba watched him for a while, enjoying the sight, but he eventually felt kind of guilty. He walked over until he was standing directly behind Clear and wrapped his arms around his middle, peering over his shoulder (though he wasn't quite able to rest his chin on him due to their height difference). “Do you want any help?”

“No, thank you. Why don’t you call your brother while I clean up?”

Aoba considered that for a moment, and he almost went to do it, but...Clear just looked so cute in that apron! With a mischievous smirk on his face, he subtly slid his arms lower until he could slip his hands under the front of the apron. He wasn’t subtle enough, though, because Clear noticed.

“W-What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?” Aoba asked innocently, stroking Clear’s cock and feeling how it swelled against his palm.

“Aren’t you g-going to--”

“Not right now.” He rolled the bottom of the apron up until it was bunched together at Clear’s waist. Looking down at Clear's body, he was delighted to see that his cock was perking up, obviously appreciating the attention. Clear melted back against him until their bodies were touching from shoulder to heel.

"It's your birthday," Clear pointed out, panting. "Shouldn't I be doing this to you?"

"You can do me once I'm done with you," Aoba promised. The apron started to roll back down, so Aoba just untied it and tore it off of him, throwing it aside. He slid his hands slowly down the front of Clear's body, appreciating the feeling of solid muscle. When he took his dick into his hand again, he looked back down so he could see what he was doing. It hit him, then, that he was seeing what Clear saw when he did this to himself. He was watching his fingers stroking the rosy skin, seeing his precum beading at the tip from the same perspective Clear had, which was actually pretty hot.

Clear sounded really needy and strung out, moaning and whimpering as Aoba touched him. Aoba had never really seen him like this; usually Clear was so focused on making Aoba feel good that he didn't put any emphasis on his own pleasure. But, right now, Aoba was the one who still had his clothes on, and Clear was the one falling apart in his arms. Aoba found that oddly empowering.

“There’s something else I wanna do,” Aoba purred, bringing his other hand (which had been resting uselessly on Clear’s waist) back around to his ass. “Can I finger you?”

Clear was so far gone already that he just nodded.

“I just gotta go get some--”

“Apron...pocket…” Clear rasped, gripping Aoba’s arm so he wouldn’t walk away. Aoba reached for the apron, digging around in the large heart-shaped pocket on the front. Sure enough, there was a bottle of lube inside.

“Spread your legs apart,” Aoba ordered, watching with glee as Clear did as he was told. To be truthful, Aoba was a little anxious to do this; it had been a while since the last time he had fingered another man. But, right now, he wanted nothing more than to see Clear quiver and moan and fall apart from his fingers inside of him. He coated one finger and slowly, slowly, slowly slipped it inside, closely watching Clear’s reaction. He seemed fine for the most part (after all, even Aoba would be uncomfortable after going that long without being penetrated) so Aoba kept going. He curled his finger and twisted it around, trying to get Clear adjusted.

“I’m fine if you want to put another one in.”

Aoba complied, slicking up his index and ring fingers and sliding them both in alongside the middle.

“I said another _one,_ Aoba!”

“Sorry! Sorry,” Aoba squeaked, pulling one of them back out. Eventually, though, Clear was able to take all three of them (though he said no when Aoba offered a fourth). Clear was more responsive to it than Aoba had thought he would be, which was a thrilling discovery. Sweet moans spilled from his lips as he rocked back on his fingers, feeding straight into Aoba’s ego. He really enjoyed seeing Clear behave like this, but part of him felt like it was bittersweet; he was able to see Clear act submissive, but he was never going to be able to properly fuck him. He only felt that way for a moment, though, because Clear started crying out _“Master, Master!”_ and Aoba’s head almost exploded.

"C'mon, baby," Aoba cooed against Clear's neck. "I wanna see you come."

Aoba started jacking him off again, and Clear held onto the counter for support as his hips started to move in tandem with Aoba's hands. His breathing was loud and his head lolled backwards, knocking into Aoba's. "I'm really close," he panted.

Hearing that, Aoba decided to increase his speed. Clear was moaning incoherently, completely lost in pleasure, but he managed to sob Aoba's name once before his orgasm hit. He thrashed in his arms and ejaculated, some of it landing on Aoba's hand and some hitting the countertop. Aoba cursed as he felt Clear convulsing tightly around his fingers.

He pulled his fingers out and wrapped him up in a hug from behind, helping him to come back down. “Did you like that?”

Clear turned around in Aoba’s hold and reciprocated the hug. “Yes, Master, I did.” In a flash, he had moved them so Aoba was braced against the countertop with Clear pressed up behind him. He nibbled on Aoba’s earlobe and said, “Now it’s your turn.” As Clear subtly grinded his (still hard?!) cock against him, Aoba could feel every ounce of dominance in him shrivel up and die. He vaguely wondered if it would come back.

Aoba had gotten pretty riled up from what he had just witnessed, so his dick was already hard and throbbing in his sweatpants. Clear didn’t seem too concerned with Aoba’s dick, though; he slid Aoba’s pants down (noting with surprise that he wasn’t wearing underwear) and knelt behind him, nudging Aoba’s legs further apart.

“What do you want me to do, Master?”

Aoba pursed his lips in frustration. “I can already tell what you’re going to do, so just do that!”

“I need you to say it.” He spread Aoba’s ass apart with both hands and waited.

“I w-want you to...use your mouth…on my, uh...you know…”

Clear circled Aoba’s entrance with his thumb. “You want me to do it here, Master?”

Aoba grit his teeth. "Yeah! So hurry up and do it."

"Yes, sir!" He chirped. Without any further warning, he dove in and ravished the cleft of Aoba's ass with a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss.

Aoba arched his back, pushing further against Clear’s mouth. Once Aoba was more relaxed, Clear put his two lubed index fingers inside of him and drew them apart, opening him up.

“W-What are you doing?” Aoba asked, mortified to have Clear expose him like that (even though he wasn’t nearly as stretched open as he felt he was).

“I just want to be able to please you, Master. I know how much you love deep penetra--”

“Alright, alright, I get it!” Aoba barked. “You can keep going.”

Clear leaned in again, breathing hotly against Aoba’s stretched hole before slipping his tongue inside as far as he could get it. He licked and sucked at him until Aoba was nearly on the edge, at which point he pulled back and flipped Aoba around by his hips.

“What are you--” Aoba cut himself off, crying out as Clear wrapped his lips tightly around the head of his cock, sucking hard as he slowly moved down on him. He slipped his fingers back inside of him, too, and gently curled them against his prostate. The combination of the internal stimulation with the wet heat of Clear’s mouth was incredible, and Aoba was having difficulty forming a lucid thought.

Clear was making a lot of noise, and Aoba thought for a second that he just loved sucking his dick that much, but then he looked down and saw Clear jerking himself off. He could feel the vibrations on his cock as Clear moaned in the back of his throat. Aoba prided himself on his oral skills, but in that moment, he genuinely thought that Clear was better at it than he was. A million times better.

He could feel his legs start to tremble, and he knew he didn’t have long. “Clear, I’m gonna…!”

Clear didn’t pull back; in fact, he relaxed his jaw, inviting Aoba to fuck his face. Aoba grabbed him by the hair and thrusted into his mouth an impressive two times before he lost it, animalistically shoving all the way in and coming down Clear’s throat. He panted heavily for a few seconds, mind numb, before he realized what he had just done.

“Oh my God, Clear, I’m so sorry!” He crouched on the floor beside him and looked at his face. Clear’s eyes were red and watery, and he had a mixture of drool and semen all over his lips, but he didn’t look upset.

“Don’t apologize, Aoba; I didn’t mind.” His voice was raw, like he had just been fucked in the mouth. Aoba looked down at Clear’s body and noticed that there was evidence that he’d had an orgasm, too, which made him feel a little bit less guilty.

"Did I hurt you?"

Clear shook his head. "I'm fine. You liked it, though, right?"

"Yeah. Thanks for...letting me do that." Though it was kind of gross, Aoba leaned in and kissed Clear, tasting his own come as he did. But then Clear stood up and put the apron back on, saying that he really needed to do the dishes before he forgot about them.

“I want you to put some clothes on,” Aoba said. He worried that Clear might take it the wrong way, so he added, “It’s kind of cold in here, and I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

Clear nodded and went into the bedroom to get dressed before finishing the dishwashing. While he was busy, Aoba texted Sei that he wanted to Skype with him. He got his laptop out and sat on the couch as he waited for Sei to call. The request popped up after only a few minutes.

“Hey!” He greeted once he answered.

“Happy belated birthday!” Sei cheered.

“You too,” Aoba said, grinning. “Have you done anything to celebrate yet?”

Sei told Aoba all about the wonderfully romantic date his boyfriend had taken him out on last week, on the date of his actual birthday.

“He sounds like a nice guy,” Aoba said once Sei was done telling the story.

“He is!” Sei smiled dreamily. “What has Clear done for you so far?”

“Um.” Aoba blushed, then cursed himself for being so obvious. “Stuff. I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t know!”

Sei eventually got the information he wanted out of Aoba (who was really hoping Clear wasn’t listening). They talked for an hour and a half until Sei had to go. Aoba stayed where he was after their conversation was over, absently surfing the Internet.

Clear had finished cleaning up, so he sat on the couch beside Aoba. "What are you doing?"

Aoba shrugged. He had been reading a stupid Buzzfeed article, but he closed it and set his laptop aside. "Nothing, now."

"Get ready! I'm taking you out."

“Do I have to dress up?”

“No! Wear whatever you want.”

Aoba put on his usual outfit and tied his hair back in a high ponytail. Clear looked just as casual as he did, so he didn’t stress about it.

As they left the building, Aoba asked Clear where he was taking him.

“You said that you liked birthdays when you were a kid, but you don’t really like them now,” he explained. “So I asked your brother what you did for your birthday as a child, and he told me. That’s what we’re going to do.”

When Aoba and Sei were younger, they would celebrate their birthday by going to the arcade and spend all the pocket change they had. Then they would drag their parents to whatever stupid kids movie was playing, and when that was over, they would go home to open presents and eat cake until they almost threw up (and one time, Aoba actually did).

“That’s...really sweet, Clear.” Aoba hid his smile behind his palm. He couldn’t believe how much effort Clear had put into this, and it made him happy to know how much he cared.

They went to an arcade that Aoba hadn’t even known existed. As it turned out, Clear had a shocking amount of pocket change with him, so they spent a few hours there. Clear was terrible at any of the shooting or racing games, but he pummeled Aoba in _Dance Dance Revolution._

After they burned through what was probably five thousand yen's worth of change, they went to see a ridiculously infantile movie about a cartoon octopus. They were the only childless adults in the theatre, but Aoba didn’t mind. He held hands with Clear the whole time and they laughed to themselves about how silly it all was.

It was nearly evening once the movie was over, so Aoba thought they were going to go home, but Clear led him to a restaurant that only served dessert.

He looked to Aoba apologetically and said, "I wanted to make you a cake, but I didn't have the time. I hope this will suffice."

"Don't feel bad! Everything today has been perfect. This is the first time in a while that I've actually enjoyed my birthday."

"That makes me so happy to hear!" Clear practically sang.

Aoba ordered five different slices of cake and shared them with Clear. They knew they were going to be sick by the end of it, but they wanted to finish.

As Aoba shovelled frosting into his face, Clear pulled something out of his back pocket, keeping it hidden inside his hand.

Aoba glanced at his closed fist. "What's that?"

"Um...I was trying to think of something special to give you, but there was nothing I could think of that you would want, so I went the creative route." He handed Aoba a memory stick, eyes darting around nervously. "You always say how much you like my singing, so I recorded myself playing some songs and put them on here. I know it's not much, but...I thought you would like it."

"That's so sweet!" He kissed Clear on the cheek, smiling warmly. "I love it! Thank you." He made a mental note to put the songs on his iPod as soon as possible.

Clear looked relieved. "I still have something else to give you, but we'll have to do it...later. When we're at home."

All of the innocent childhood nostalgia Aoba had been vibing on went right out the window. “Are you talking about your…?” He glanced pointedly at Clear's groin.

Clear blushed. “Um...kind of. But it’s your birthday, so I figured you would want to do something different tonight.”

"Different?"

Clear shushed him, narrowing his eyes playfully. "You'll find out later!"

*     *     *

As soon as they were inside the front door, Clear pinned Aoba against the wall, kissing him and grinding their hips together. Aoba could feel Clear getting aroused, so he slid his hand between their bodies and palmed at Clear through his pants. He broke away from their kiss and purred, “Do you have another present for me?”

Clear giggled at Aoba’s cheesy line. “I do, actually, but you’ll have to come with me to the bedroom.”

Aoba followed Clear to their room, sitting on the edge of the bed and watching curiously as he pulled out a large bag from the closet.

Clear coughed to clear his throat. "I usually like to be gentle with you in bed, but...in the past, you’ve told me how much you wish I were rougher with you.”

Aoba swallowed nervously, staring at the bag in Clear’s hands. “What’s in there?”

“Um, you can say no if you want, but I just thought that maybe you’d like it if I were kind of...dominant. Well, really dominant, actually. Very dominant.”

“D-Dominant?” Aoba whispered with a tremor in his voice.

“Yes. So I got some things we could use.” He pulled out a pair of furry leather handcuffs, a blindfold, a collar and leash, a thin metal chain with two clips on either end, a wooden bar, and a roll of black tape.

Aoba blushed as he looked at the objects Clear had placed on the bed. He'd always known that Clear was a closet kinkster, but it still shocked him to see his sweet, adorable boyfriend suggest something so...deviant.

Clear went through each thing and explained its purpose. Aoba obviously knew what some of it was meant for, but he didn’t know that the bar would be used to keep his legs spread apart, or that the clips on the chain would be used on his nipples. Clear assured him that he didn’t have to use all of them, but Aoba said it was fine.

“Alright,” Clear said, kissing Aoba sweetly on the forehead. “If you feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable, tell me, okay? Just say ‘jellyfish.’ That’s our safeword.”

“Before we start, um…” Aoba took a deep breath and spoke with confidence. “As your master, there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”

“I’ll do anything you want.”

“I want you to hit me.”

Clear faltered a bit. “Anything but that.”

“Please!” Aoba begged. “That’s all I’m asking you for!”

“Why do you want me to hurt you?”

“I don’t want you to knock my teeth out or anything; just slap me across the face! Maybe choke me a little.”

Clear sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. "I'll do it because I love you, and I want to make you happy. But you need to know that I would absolutely never get off on hitting you. Okay?"

"I understand," Aoba answered, completely sincere.

"Good." Clear smiled and kissed Aoba on the forehead. When he pulled back, Aoba was shocked to find a cold, stern look in Clear's eyes where there was usually a loving warmth. "Now take your clothes off and kneel on the floor."

Feeling a rush of excitement flutter through him, Aoba stood up from the bed and neatly removed his clothes, placing them on the floor in a small pile. He sank down to his knees and looked up at Clear expectantly.

Without so much as a sound of acknowledgement, Clear took the wooden bar and the roll of tape and brought them over to where Aoba knelt. He affixed the bar to one ankle, carefully ensuring that the tape lay flat against Aoba's skin. He then spread Aoba's legs a comfortable distance apart and taped the bar to his other leg. He reached back and got the collar, closing it around Aoba's throat. As he tightened it, he asked Aoba to tell him if he felt like he couldn't breathe. Aoba said he was fine, so Clear clipped the leash to the front of the collar and pulled him forward.

"Stand up."

Aoba glowered. How was he supposed to stand with his legs propped a foot apart? He managed to stagger to his feet (with no help from Clear, of course). "This is stupid. Wouldn't it have been easier if I was already on the bed?"

Clear slapped him across the face. Aoba knew he definitely could have hit him harder; Clear was weirdly strong, and he had a hell of a backswing. He supposed it was better than nothing, though, especially considering how reluctant Clear had been to do it in the first place.

"Don't talk back to me," Clear scolded, though his voice was soft. He gently stroked his thumb over the mark he had left on Aoba's cheek, silently asking if he was okay. Aoba smiled a little bit in reply, letting him know that he hadn't done anything wrong.

So Clear stepped away and fetched the nipple clamps. "I know how sensitive you are here," Clear explained, flicking Aoba's nipple with his fingers. Aoba flinched and gasped out in surprise. "So I think you'll like this."

He held one clamp open with his fingers, then brought it to the now-hardened nub and let go of it, allowing it to pinch the skin. Aoba cried out in a mix of arousal and pain. Clear did the same to his other nipple, drawing the same response. He admired Aoba's chest, adorned with the silver chain. Then he gently tugged on it. "Get on the bed."

Aoba caught a glimpse of himself in the full-body mirror they had recently installed in their bedroom. He looked like some kind of sex slave from a porno, which should have been embarrassing, but it wasn't.

"Are you looking at your reflection?" Clear asked.

Aoba nodded, not taking his eyes away from the mirror.

Clear hummed. "I can see why; you look stunning like this." He kissed sensually down Aoba's neck, and Aoba trembled. He wanted Clear to dominate him and use his body for his own pleasure. His mind felt hazy, and he was rock hard already, though Clear had barely touched him.

It was difficult to climb on the bed with his legs wedged apart, but he managed, crawling to the middle of the bed. Clear, obviously unsatisfied, flipped Aoba onto his back and hovered over him on his hands and knees. "I wanted you to get into this position."

"You didn't tell me that! How was I supposed to know?" Aoba argued.

Clear blinked, then started to laugh, breaking character. "You're right! I'm sorry, Aoba; I'm not good at this."

"No, you're doing good! Keep going! You're really turning me on."

Aoba smiled fondly at Clear, and Clear smiled back. But then he blinked and his face was uncaring. He tugged on the clamps again, harder this time, and ordered Aoba to raise his arms above his head. He trapped his wrists together in the handcuffs, weaving the chain through the posts in the headboard so he couldn’t move.

"I'm going to put the blindfold on you now." He wasn't asking Aoba if it was okay; he was just letting him know. He tied the fabric around Aoba’s head and, once Clear adjusted it, Aoba couldn't see anything at all. He felt vulnerable as he lay there, unable to move or see what was going on. He felt Clear’s weight shifting on the bed, and he could hear him rummaging through the bedside drawer. After a few seconds, a buzzing sound filled the silence in the room.

“Is that my vibrator?” Aoba asked, half-embarrassed. He worried for a second that he wasn’t supposed to be talking, but Clear didn’t sound like he cared.

“Yes. I’m going to put it in you.”

Aoba was still recovering from the shame that Clear had known about his vibrator when he felt it sliding inside of him. He used to use it when Clear had to go home, but ever since he moved in with him, Aoba hadn't seen much of it. His body certainly remembered it, though; he cried out, jerking against his restraints. The toy wasn't as big as Clear, but the vibrations against his prostate were incredible. He could feel himself getting closer and closer and closer until he was right on the edge.

"Are you about to come?"

"Yes!" Aoba's whole body trembled. He was so close...

"That's a shame." Clear pulled the vibrator out and turned it off.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Aoba groaned as he felt his orgasm slip further and further out of reach.

Clear pulled on the leash, and though Aoba couldn't see his face, he could tell he was leaning in towards him. "You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?"

Aoba could hear Clear shuffling around, and then he felt him get off the bed. He thought he heard him leave the room. It turned him on to think that Clear had just left him there, tied up and aching to be touched. He tried to grind his legs together for a bit of friction but he wasn't able to due to the spreader bar. He writhed helplessly on the bed, waiting anxiously for Clear to return.

After what felt like ten minutes, Clear came back into the room. He ran his hand up the length of Aoba’s leg and Aoba heard him chuckle.

“You’re still hard.”

Aoba pouted. “So what?”

“I thought you would have gone soft by now.”

“Can you just hurry up?” Aoba barked.

Clear hummed as if he were really thinking about it. He pushed on the spreader bar until Aoba’s knees were up against his chest and circled his entrance with his index finger. “I think you need to learn how to be patient.”

“I think you need to learn how to shut the fuck up.” Though Aoba was sassing him, he was actually really enjoying this. He had no idea that Clear had it in him to be so mean, and it was pretty hot.

“Do you want me to fuck you?”

That caught Aoba off guard. He had only heard Clear swear a handful of times, and he almost never did it while they were having sex. Not only that, though; he had never once used the word “fuck” to describe what they were doing. Ever. And he had no idea how much it would turn him on to hear him say it.

“Yes. I want you to fuck me.”

Clear yanked on the leash, bringing their faces closer together. Aoba could feel his lips brushing against his as he whispered, “Then you’ll have to behave.”

Aoba huffed. “Fine. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“I’m glad you’re ready to cooperate.” Clear let go of the leash and pushed two fingers inside of him, still holding Aoba’s legs down.

After having his orgasm denied, it didn’t take long for Aoba to approach it a second time. Clear’s fingers twisted deliciously against his most sensitive spots, and by the time he had moved up to four of them, Aoba was on the cusp of climax.

“I swear to God, if you don’t let me come, I’m gonna kill you,” Aoba growled, breathing raggedly.

“Really?” Clear sounded amused.

“R-Really!”

“You’re not being very obedient,” Clear husked. His fingers slipped out, and Aoba was about to protest until he felt Clear’s hand come down across his face with more force than the first time. Aoba revelled in the stinging sensation, crying out brokenly as Clear shoved his fingers back in.

He knew that Clear wasn’t planning on letting him come anytime soon, so he decided to try to get around it. He thought that if he didn’t say he was about to come, Clear would have no way of knowing, and he wouldn’t be able to stop in time. So he kept his mouth shut and tried not to look like he was falling apart. He was so close, he could almost taste it…!

Clear pulled his fingers out, suddenly, and moved away from him. “I can tell when you’re about to come, you know.” He chuckled lowly. “But I have to admit, that was pretty clever.”

“Fuck!” Aoba sobbed, trying to kick his legs in frustration but failing. “You’re the worst!”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Clear cooed, stroking Aoba’s face. “I promise I won’t do it again.” He untied the blindfold and set it aside. Aoba blinked as his teary eyes adjusted to seeing again, and the image of Clear gazing down at him came into focus.

“Why’d you take it off?”

“You look so pretty when I’m inside of you. I want to be able to see your whole face.”

A very shameful squeaking sound snuck out of Aoba’s throat without permission. He blushed and tried to duck his face away from Clear’s unrelenting stare, kind of wishing he still had the blindfold on. “O-Okay, then.”

Clear was still fully dressed, so he undid his pants and pulled his cock out. He was absolutely _dripping,_ and Aoba felt less angry about Clear’s teasing as he realized that Clear had gone this whole time untouched, throbbing and confined in his jeans. He stroked himself with lube, groaning in the back of his throat as he did.

“I’m still your master, right?” Aoba asked.

“Yes. Is there something you would like me to do?”

“I want you to take your clothes off, too.”

“Sure thing!” Clear took his shirt off, pulling it over his head and absently tossing it on the floor. Then he shuffled out of his pants, and then he was naked, too. Aoba wished he could reach out and run his hands over his body, but he couldn’t.

Clear crawled in closer, pushing on the spreader bar with one hand again and positioning his cock with the other. Without any real warning, he entered Aoba with one hard thrust.

“Oh my fucking God!” Aoba cried, throwing his head back against the pillow. It definitely burned, but it was a good burn.

“Are you alright?” Clear’s tone was gentle. “Do you want me to stop?”

“N-No...keep going…”

Thrown by Aoba’s initial reaction, Clear rocked his hips gently. Aoba was having none of that; he growled and tried to slam his hips up against him, though it was difficult due to his restraints.

“You want me to go faster?” Clear asked, half in disbelief.

“I want you to go as fast as you can.”

“I don’t know, Aoba…” Clear’s brow furrowed. “I can go pretty fast…”

“I know how fast you can go,” Aoba snarled. He was getting sick of Clear’s reluctance. “You said you were gonna be rough with me, didn’t you? So do it. Be rough with me.”

After another few seconds of concern, Clear got his expression under control and said sternly, “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Why? Am I breaking the rules?”

“Yes.”

“What are you gonna do to punish me?”

With a low, carnal growl, Clear started to fuck Aoba brutally, pulling on the leash as he did. For the first time, he wasn’t holding back, and Aoba could notice the difference; his thrusts were harsh and unsteady, and he was growling like an animal. Aoba had never seen him like this before, but he couldn’t deny that it was hot.

Clear released his grip on the leash to tug on the nipple clamps, and the sharp pain went straight to Aoba's cock. He could feel his climax building, and he could tell from how long it was taking that it was going to be intense. He frantically choked out a series of strangled sobs, trying to tell Clear what was about to happen. Clear kept moving and pulling on the clamps, and Aoba straight-up screamed as he finally, _finally_ came. His vision blacked out a little bit and he thrashed so hard that one of his feet came free from the spreader bar. Clear came a few thrusts later with a low rumble in the back of his throat, pulsing wetly inside of the now-shaking Aoba.

Barely thirty seconds had passed before Clear set about removing Aoba’s restraints. As each body part was freed, he treated it to a series of sweet, loving kisses. He set the equipment on the floor and lay down beside Aoba, pulling him into his arms.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Clear was whispering in his ear, and Aoba didn’t know why until he heard himself sobbing. They got under the blankets (Clear said they needed to be washed, anyway) and held each other.

“I’m s-sorry,” Aoba struggled to say. “I really liked it, I don’t know w-why--”

“I understand. It happens sometimes.” Clear kissed him tenderly, still holding him tightly in his arms. “Do you want me to get you some water?”

Aoba nodded. Clear left the room, returning a few minutes later with a glass of water, a washcloth and a bottle of lotion. Aoba took the water, drinking it in less than a minute and setting the empty cup on the nightstand. “Thank you.”

Clear sat on the bed again. “Was that...alright?”

“Yeah.” Aoba smiled, mostly calmed down. “I loved it! You did a really good job.”

“Did I hurt you anywhere?”

Aoba chuckled. “I might be sore tomorrow, but I’ll be fine. Besides, I wanted you to be rough.”

“Was I too rough?”

Aoba took Clear’s face into his hands and squished his cheeks together to get him to shut up. “You were fine! Better than fine. Fantastic. It was exactly how I wanted it.”

Clear grinned. He took Aoba's hands in his own and kissed his knuckles. "I'm glad you liked it."

"How long have you been wanting to do that?" Aoba asked, peeling the blankets away so Clear could clean him up with the washcloth.

"Do what?"

"Tie me up and everything."

Clear blushed. "A while," he admitted as he squeezed some lotion into his palms. He took Aoba's ankle in his hands and massaged it, slowly working all the way up his leg before moving to the other one. He rubbed the lotion into Aoba's whole body, soothing the tension in his muscles after such an intense session. When he was done, they bundled up in the bedsheets again and cuddled until they were both asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fifty shades of clear am i right ladies
> 
> next chapter is clears "birthday" but it's not as pwp as this one lmao. they were originally both in the same chapter but it was too long


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba celebrates Clear's birthday nearly three months late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the jellyfish in this chapter is heavily based off jeffrey the jellyfish from spongebob jsyk

For a while, Aoba had no idea what he was going to give Clear for his (extremely belated) birthday. He figured something sentimental would have more meaning to Clear than something expensive, but Aoba had no idea how to be sentimental. He considered making him something, but then he remembered that Clear was his boyfriend, not his mom. A few ideas kept popping up in the forefront of his mind, so he eventually decided to just go with all of them. There was no such thing as too many presents, right?

Aoba knew that Clear usually got up before him, so he crept out of bed especially early. He tiptoed around the apartment as quietly as he could until he found what he was looking for. Steeling his nerves, he stripped his clothes away and put on the same apron Clear had worn the previous morning, though he was wearing a black lace thong and thigh-highs on underneath. Looking at himself in the mirror, he made sure his stockings were straight and tried not to talk himself out of it.

Clear was a much better cook than Aoba, but Aoba still wanted to try to make breakfast for Clear, so he kept it as simple as he could. While he was frying the eggs, he heard footsteps coming from their bedroom, so he braced himself.

"Good morning," Clear mumbled.

"Good morning, Clear," Aoba purred, arching his back so his ass stuck out. “Happy birthday.”

"A-Aoba...!" He covered his mouth with his hands, blushing. "You look so cute!"

"You think so?"

"Yes! Of course I do."

Aoba smiled at Clear, eyes lidded. "Go sit down; I'll bring the food over when it's done."

He finished cooking the eggs and, once the toast had popped, brought one plate to the table. Before he sat down, though, he reached for the apron tie, toying with it in his hands.

"I guess I don't need this anymore, right?" Aoba murmured. He untied it and slid the apron off his body, letting it fall to the floor. Though he was putting on a confident front, he felt a spike of anxiety in his chest as he stood there almost naked in front of Clear. Though Aoba knew he had already shown Clear every part of him there was to see, he had never just stood in front of him like this in broad daylight. He was worried that Clear would find him unattractive.

“Um.” Clear was gaping at him, almost speechless, and Aoba couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not.

"Is something the matter?” He sat down in Clear’s lap. “Do you want me to put the apron back on?"

"No! Absolutely not." He stroked Aoba's bare skin, holding him tightly. "I want you to stay like this. You’re beautiful."

"Stop it!” Aoba giggled, squirming in place. “That tickles.” He put one of the eggs on top of a piece of toast and brought it to Clear's lips. After he took a bite, Aoba took a bite from the same piece. They went back and forth until all of the food was gone.

"Thank you very much," Clear said after kissing Aoba on the cheek. "That was lovely." He started kissing Aoba's neck, and Aoba got all swept up in the romance before he remembered that he had plans to attend to!

"Sorry, Clear, but we can't do it right now! We have to leave soon."

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise!"

Though disappointed that they didn't have time for sex, they got ready in record time and headed out. Aoba wound up taking Clear to the train station.

Clear looked at him in confusion. "Why are we here?"

"We're going out of town!"

Clear had revealed a few weeks ago that he had never before been to an amusement park, not even as a young child, so Aoba decided to take him to one. He knew he was in for an exhausting day; Clear may have been a fully-grown man, but at heart, he was a kid. Still, Aoba wanted him to have fun today. He worked so hard all the time that he deserved a break for once.

The train ride was about an hour and a half, so Aoba decided to give Clear his first present (which was the smaller of the two): a Nintendo 3DS and the new Pokemon game. He had already set it up and charged it for him so he could start playing right away.

"Aobaaa!" Clear sang with a grin on his face. "Thank you so much! But I can't help but feel bad. My present to you wasn't as nice as this."

"Shut up! It was very nice. It's the nicest thing anyone's ever given me."

Aoba was tired from getting up so early (after such an exhausting night, no less) so he put in his earphones and tried to get a nap in while Clear played beside him. He had put Clear's music on his iPod before they left, so when he pressed play, he closed his eyes and let his soothing voice ease him to sleep.

*     *     *

"Aoba! Aoba, wake up! We're here!"

"Ehh?"

"The train stopped!"

"Oh. Okay, follow me."

Knowing how easily distracted Clear could be, Aoba took his hand and led him like a child out of the busy train station.

"Where are we going, Aoba?" He asked, practically bouncing as we walked.

"You'll see!"

Clear did see, and once he realized where they were going, he nearly broke into a sprint. Aoba tugged him back before he could run away, though; he didn't want to lose Clear in such a thick crowd.

Once Aoba paid for their tickets, they entered the park and looked at the map. He recognized some of the rides from when he was a kid, but quite a few of them were new.

"Where should we go first?" Clear asked. "You've been here before, right?"

"Let's start here," Aoba said, pointing to an area close to them on the map. "Then we can work our way around."

Clear held onto Aoba's hand during the first few rides, but after that, his nerves dissipated and he was fine.

Halfway through their trek through the park, Aoba saw several large stuffed jellyfish at a milk can game stand. He immediately knew what he needed to do.

Pulling Clear by his shirtsleeve, he marched over to the stand and slammed five hundred yen on the counter.

"I wanna play."

The attendant gave him five balls, which he had to try to throw into the milk can. If he got one in, he would win the jellyfish.

He carefully tossed the first one. It missed. The second one missed, too.

"Can I try?" Clear asked hopefully.

"No. I'm gonna win it for you."

Clear heaved a dreamy sigh. "Always such a gentleman, Aoba..."

He missed all five, so he paid for another round. And another, and another, which was when he finally let Clear have a turn.

He got it on the first shot.

"We won, Aoba!" He sang, watching with glee as the attendant got one of the giant pink jellyfish down from the rack. They handed it to them over the counter and Clear took it, giving it a hug. "Let's name him Jeffrey!"

"Jeffrey the jellyfish?"

"Yes!"

They took turns carrying the big lump as they walked from ride to ride. Each time they had to set Jeffrey aside, Clear got nervous, but he was always still there when the ride was over.

By the time they were done, the sun was setting and they were famished. Aoba asked Clear what he wanted for dinner, and Clear said ice cream, so they went and got ice cream.

While they sat in the kitschy ice cream shop (with Jeffrey occupying the seat beside him), Aoba figured it was as good a time as any to give Clear the second part of his present.

“I probably should have asked you about this before I went and did it,” Aoba reflected, shifting in his seat nervously. “But I figured you’d like it, so...here.” He handed over an envelope, watching Clear anxiously.

“Do you want me to read the card out loud?” Clear asked before he opened it.

“God, no.”

“Okay.” He smiled and started to silently read what Aoba had written, face crumpling up with emotion as he did. He was teary-eyed by the time he finished.

Before Clear had the chance to gush about how sweet the card was, Aoba told him to check the envelope again.

“Are these...plane tickets?” Clear asked, pulling them out.

“Yeah.” Aoba swallowed. “Um, there’s this country that’s near the Philippines, and they have a lake that has, like, a whole bunch of jellyfish that live in it. And you can go in the lake and snorkel with them. So, uh, that’s where we’re gonna go, because I know how much you love jellyfish.”

“A-Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

Clear's eyes got all squinty, and his eyebrows knitted together. His lower lip wobbled and he covered his nose and mouth with his hands as the tears spilled over.

Aoba glanced at the people around them, grateful that nobody was watching. "Are you gonna be alright?"

Clear nodded, inhaling wetly through his nose. He wiped his eyes with his hands (though he was still crying) and beamed at Aoba. "You really love me." He wasn't asking Aoba for confirmation, he was just stating the truth.

Aoba's face darkened in a blush. "Y-Yeah, so what?"

"I'm just so happy that you love me!" He giggled. "It's the greatest feeling in the world!"

"You love me too, idiot," Aoba said defensively.

"You are absolutely right!"

They headed home after that, and on the train, Clear showed Aoba all of the Pokemon he had caught so far. He was embarrassed to find that Clear had named his Mudkip after him.

"Why did you give him my name?"

"Because he's blue, and that reminded me of you!"

Aoba didn't have anything to say to that. Clear's reasoning was pretty solid.

Before the train ride was over, Aoba the Mudkip had become Aoba the Marshtomp.

*     *     *

Ren greeted them at the door, barking excitedly and weaving between their feet. He had adjusted well to his prosthetic limb, much to Clear and Aoba's relief.

"Hi there, Ren!" Clear chirped. He scooped him up and cuddled him, cooing nonsense into his ear. Aoba fussed over him, too, but they put him back on the floor after only a minute or two.

"You're not tired, are you, Clear?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Well, it's just..." Aoba shuffled his feet and looked at the floor. "I have something else to give you. But you have to wait for me." He led Clear to the living space and instructed him to sit in the single chair he had placed there earlier. It was the same kind of chair they had in the kitchen: wooden, with no armrests. It wasn’t terribly sexy, but Aoba figured it would do the trick.

He slipped into the bedroom and changed into the slutty lingerie set he had purchased a few days ago with Clear in mind. It was light blue, and he had a matching garter belt and stockings to go with it. He didn't want to reveal all of it at once, so he put one of Clear's button-down shirts on over it. After taking a deep breath, he stepped back out.

"Aoba...!" Clear gasped as soon as he saw him. "You look so cute in my shirt!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

With Clear watching him curiously, he drew the curtains (sufficiently dimming the light in the room) and pressed the play button on his iPod, which was already plugged into the speakers. The sensual sounds of Beyonce’s “Speechless” started and Aoba sank to his knees, crawling towards Clear (who was smiling down at him).

“Aoba, are you going to give me a lap dance?”

Aoba chuckled under his breath, nodding. He stopped in front of him and put his hands on Clear’s knees, spreading his legs apart. He slid his palms down the length of his inner thighs, stopping before he reached the juncture of his legs.

Swaying to the beat of the music, he raised himself up and stepped forward until he was hovering over Clear's lap. He popped open the first few buttons of his shirt and placed his arms around Clear's shoulders, moving his hips in a figure-eight without actually grinding on him.

Just as Clear reached out to touch him, Aoba slinked away from him. He moved until he was behind the chair and slid his hands over Clear's chest. He unbuttoned his shirt as he caressed him, breathing hotly against his neck all the while.

When he came back around to the front of the chair, he noticed that Clear had a growing bulge in the front of his pants. Aoba really wanted to let it out, but he knew he needed to pace himself, to tease Clear a little bit, so he left it alone.

He straddled the chair again, but from the other direction. Now that he wasn't making eye contact with Clear, it was easier to do this; he held onto Clear's knees and arched his back all the way up. He pushed his hips back in a slow, sensual motion, drawing a circle with his ass over Clear's abdomen. Once he had found a steady rhythm, he brought a hand up to unbutton his own shirt the rest of the way. It fell off his shoulders, exposing his upper back, but Aoba didn't want to take it off all the way just yet.

He turned around to face Clear after a while, finding him flushed and breathing heavily. Aoba gazed down at him as he slid his own shirt off and set it aside. He took Clear's shirt, too, and threw it in the same direction.

The song changed to the next one in the playlist, but Aoba hardly realized it; he sat in Clear's lap and grinded down against him, moaning in the back of his throat as their hard cocks rubbed together through the layers of fabric. Clear unhooked the sheer lace bralette Aoba was wearing and took it off, running his hands over his bare chest.

Aoba couldn't take it anymore; he grabbed Clear by the jaw and brought their lips together in a searing kiss. Clear grabbed his ass and squeezed, pulling him down against him harder. It was so hot, grinding against Clear through their clothes like a couple of teenagers who didn't want to get caught, and the sexual tension between them was so strong that Aoba couldn't have prevented what happened next. Without really thinking about it, he sped up his pace, and before he knew it, he was reaching orgasm. He pulled Clear's head against his chest and bucked his hips, crying out and coming in his panties.

Well, fuck! That wasn't supposed to happen.

"Aoba...did you just...?"

"I didn't mean to!"

Clear chuckled, and Aoba felt his breath against his chest. "I don't mind."

"You didn't...did you?"

"No, I didn't."

"Good."

Aoba dropped to his knees between Clear's legs, then, to attend to his boyfriend's needs. He undid his pants and took his lengthy cock out, taking a moment to thank God for the meal he was about to receive. Before he got to that, though, he wanted to appreciate the rest of him. He raised himself up on his knees slightly and ran his hands over Clear's chest and arms, humming contentedly.

Clear's eyes fluttered shut as Aoba stroked his body. "Aoba...do you think you could move your hands a little lower?"

Aoba circled Clear's belly button with two fingers. "Here?"

"A little lower."

He followed his happy trail with his fingers, then dragged them back up. "Here?"

"You're getting there."

He gripped the base of his cock and slowly tugged his hand up to the tip. He rubbed over the slit with his thumb. "How about this?"

"That's p-perfect," he whispered.

As Aoba jacked him off, he swung his hips from side to side in the air, knowing Clear would appreciate the view. He watched the way his precum oozed out of the blushing tip, and he was struck with the desire to lick it off, so he did. He swiped his tongue over the bead of liquid and swallowed it. He licked over the head again, letting his tongue linger as he drooled on Clear's cock. Overcome with the desire to take him into his mouth, he relaxed his jaw and sucked him in as far as he could go.

"Mmm...Aoba..."

He swallowed around his length and pulled back, swirling his tongue around the head before moving back down. He gently rubbed his balls with one hand and curled the other around his base. Aoba's own cock started to throb in its confines again as he felt the silky heat of Clear's cock in his mouth, savouring the taste. Sucking Clear's dick was one of his favourite pastimes.

"You g-gotta stop, or I'll..."

Aoba sped up his movements and took Clear in deeper, head bobbing up and down between his legs. He looked up and saw Clear biting his hand with his eyes squeezed shut. After a moment, he opened them and looked at Aoba, eyes widening slightly when their gazes met. Aoba sent him his most lustful stare, trying to tell Clear with his eyes how much he loved having his dick in his mouth.

"A-Aoba, really," he put a hand in Aoba's hair and tried to pull him off. "I'm...ahh, I'm about to...!"

Aoba pulled his mouth off when he heard Clear's warning, though he kept stroking him to orgasm. When he climaxed, he arched his body up away from the chair and moaned at the ceiling, cock pulsing in Aoba's hand. Aoba shut his eyes as Clear ejaculated all over his face. He grimaced at the feeling at first, but it ended up turning him on more than he thought it would.

"O-Oh my gosh, Aoba, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be," Aoba chuckled as he wiped it off with his fingers, then cleaned them off with his tongue. "I wanted you to come on my face."

Clear tried to move, probably to reciprocate what Aoba had done for him, but Aoba stopped him with a hand on his chest. He stood, instead, and pulled Clear up by his hand.

"Go lay down on the couch."

Clear did as was instructed, removing his pants for good measure. Aoba stood in front of him and slowly stripped his lingerie away, noting with pride that Clear was becoming visibly aroused again. Once he was naked, too, he went and got the lube from their bedroom. He brought it back to the couch and climbed onto Clear's lap, facing away from him. They both made a small sound when Aoba's ass came into contact with Clear's half-hard cock.

"Why are you facing that way? Do you want me to rim you?"

"No." Aoba uncapped the lube and put some on his own fingers. "I was gonna let you watch me finger myself. Unless you'd rather do it?"

"No, it's fine!" Clear assured with enthusiasm. "You can do it."

Lifting his ass in the air so Clear could see what he was doing, Aoba circled his entrance with one finger, then slid it in. He swirled it around, then added another in beside it as he quickly got used to it. He worked them in and out, scissoring them apart to loosen himself up.

Aoba heard Clear inhale a shaky breath, then felt his hands come up to squeeze his ass.

Aoba added a third finger and whimpered at how good it felt. But as he fucked himself on his fingers, an idea popped into his head that he'd never really thought about before. It seemed like it might be fun, though, so he decided to suggest it.

"Put yours in, too," he rasped.

"W-What?"

"Your fingers. Put them in."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He craned his neck around to see if Clear was going to do it and, sure enough, he was slicking up two of his fingers.

"S-So, do you just want me to--"

"Just put both of them in with mine."

Reluctantly, Clear slid one finger in. Aoba rocked back onto it almost immediately.

"Both of them," he growled. Clear did as he was told and Aoba moaned at the fullness, hips twitching at the feeling of their fingers moving in unison.

"You're stretched so wide..."

"Our fingers still aren't as big as your cock," he purred. "Speaking of which..." he pulled his fingers out one by one, Clear soon doing the same.

"Do you want to switch places?" Clear asked, sitting up slightly.

"No. It's your birthday, so I'm doing all the work." He turned over on Clear's lap so they were facing each other again.

"A-Aoba, you've done enough, really, you don't need to--"

"Shut up." He stroked Clear with some lube, then shifted forward so he was hovering over his cock. "I wanna do it like this."

"But I like being the one to give you pleasure," Clear admitted, holding Aoba's hips in place so he couldn't move.

Aoba huffed. "You work really hard all the time, and you have a lot to worry about, so I want you to relax for once." He swallowed. "And, don't get me wrong, I love the way we usually do it, when you take control, but...I want to make you feel good, and I want you to be able to enjoy it without also having to focus on getting me off."

Clear looked at him, _really_ looked at him for a moment. Then he nodded slowly, easing his grip on Aoba's hips. "Okay."

Aoba smiled at him. "Thank you." He braced his hands on Clear's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye as he slowly sat on his dick, taking him in inch by inch. Though he was still shocked by the size of Clear's cock, he had started to become accustomed to it; his muscles were more pliant than they used to be, and he was able to take him in without too much of a struggle.

Once he was totally adjusted, he lifted himself up on his shaking thighs, then dropped back down with more force.

"So...tight, Aoba..."

"Does it feel good inside of me?" He asked almost-smugly, grinding his hips down in a circle.

Clear cried out brokenly, nodding. He looked almost drunk as he watched Aoba fuck himself on his cock.

Aoba tried his hardest to be as sexy as possible as he undulated on his cock, raising himself up and sinking back down. He swirled his hips in just the right way so his own cock bounced enticingly, slapping wetly against his abdomen. Taking it up a notch, he dragged a hand over his own chest, teasing his nipples. He slid his other hand down his body so he could stroke his own cock, eyes locking with Clear's as he played with himself.

Clear hadn't taken his eyes off of him the whole time. He always secretly loved it when Aoba rode him; he got to enjoy the sight (and feeling) of Aoba bouncing on his dick without having to put in any real effort.

In the blink of an eye, Aoba had spun around so Clear could watch him from behind. He knew how much Clear loved his ass (he _really_ loved his ass) so he knew he would appreciate the opportunity. The only downside was that Clear couldn't see the expressions on his face, so Aoba tried to be extra vocal to let him know how much he was enjoying it.

Given the position they were in, Aoba shouldn't have been surprised when Clear spanked him, especially not after that ass-slapping thing they had done when they were drunk that one time. He still was, though; he jerked forward and squeaked out in shock, eyes wide.

"I'm sorry, Aoba! Was that out of line?"

"No, it's fine! It just surprised me. You can...do it again, if you want..."

Clear did it again, and it actually turned Aoba on a little bit. He slapped it a few more times, and then he rubbed over the tender spot with his thumb.

"It's so red, Aoba..."

Aoba's brain had melted at that point, so he just moaned in reply. He slammed his hips down, riding Clear with ferocity, feeling his orgasm nearing.

"Clear, I'm not gonna last much longer..."

"Me neither," Clear groaned.

Aoba started stroking himself to bring himself to the end sooner. With a strangled cry, he climaxed for the second time, coming over his own hand.

"Aoba...ahh, I'm...!" Clear gripped his ass and drove his hips up into him, groaning and filling him with his come.

After he regained control of his limbs, Aoba went to turn back over, but Clear held him in place.

"What are you...?"

Clear sounded astonished. "It's dripping out." He swiped his index finger over Aoba's entrance where his ejaculate was seeping out.

Aoba should have squawked in anger and swatted Clear on the head, but he didn't. He just laughed and said, "That's what it does after we're done."

Eventually, Clear let him turn around. He sat in Clear's lap (so he didn't get come on the sofa) and Clear sat up, wrapping his arms around his waist.

He kissed Aoba on the cheek and said, "Thank you so much."

"Don't say 'thank you!'"

"No, I mean--" Clear cut himself off and laughed. "I meant for everything today. You didn't have to do any of it, but you did, and I'm very grateful."

Aoba blushed, which was stupid. He had just finished riding Clear's dick like a porn star with no problem, and he was getting flustered by a couple of words? He cleared his throat and mumbled, "You're welcome."

"I love you so much, Aoba."

"Yeah. I love you, too."

*     *     *

After they got cleaned up and dressed again, it was late, but neither of them were tired. Instead of going to bed, Aoba pulled out his phone and showed Clear some pictures of the jellyfish lake they would be visiting (though their trip wasn't until late June). That got Clear so fired up that they wound up talking about it well into the night, and they nearly slept through their alarm the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i listened to beyonce while i wrote this chapter lmao


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clear gets some bad news, Aoba tries to comfort him, and Mizuki says goodbye to his best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we all knew this was coming
> 
> uhhhhhhhhh theres some blood in this chapter? not a lot but. if you don't like blood then proceed with caution!! or comment or something and ill tell you what happens so you dont have to read it
> 
> also the mizuki thing in the summary is kind of a joke. it'll make sense when the chapter is over lmao

Before he met Aoba, Clear had used all of his free time to visit his grandfather in the hospital. After all, the old man didn't have any other living relatives; Clear was all the family he had. Since he had started dating Aoba, though, Clear had been a little...preoccupied. He still visited his grandfather every few days, but he usually kept his visits brief because he was eager to get home to his boyfriend. He called him every day and talked to him on the phone for a while, so he wasn't neglecting him or anything, but the guilt still gnawed at him

The phone rang one morning, and neither of them thought much of it until Clear checked the caller ID.

"It's from the hospital," he told Aoba before he answered. "Hello?"

Aoba watched his face carefully, and he didn't look happy.

"Uh...okay, um..." He rubbed the side of his face. "Is there anything...? Oh. Oh, no, I understand. So...how, um...how long, do you think...?"

He covered his mouth with his hand and Aoba cringed. This couldn't have been good news.

"O-Okay." His voice was weak. "Thank you." He hung up and set the phone on the table.

Aoba placed a hand on his arm. "What did they say?"

"Grandfather doesn't have very long," he said flatly, eyes vacant. "The treatments aren't working."

"Do you want to go see him?"

Clear's eyes focused and he looked at him. "Would you come with me?"

"Um...do you think he would want me there?"

"Yes. He worries that, when he passes, I'll be left alone with nobody to care about me. I think it will give him peace of mind that I have you with me now."

Aoba didn't think he had any place there during such an emotional time, but he wanted to help Clear however he could, so he went.

In the back of the taxi on their way to the hospital, Clear turned to Aoba, expression grave. “I’ve never told you very much about my life, have I?”

“Not really,” Aoba admitted, “But it’s fine if you’re not comfortable sharing.”

“You should probably know before you go in to meet Grandfather, in case he says something.” Clear inhaled deeply, then sighed. "I'm sure you know that my parents are no longer living, right?"

"Yeah, I...kinda figured that."

“When I was ten, my house burned down while I was at school.” He paused. “My parents were home at the time. My mother died in the fire, and my father made it out, but he died shortly after from the smoke inhalation.”

Aoba cradled Clear’s hand in both of his in an effort to comfort him, but he didn’t say anything.

Clear continued. “I went to live with Grandfather, and things were fine for a while. He was too old to work very much, so we mostly supported ourselves with the life insurance from my parents, though I started working as soon as I could.” He took a shaky breath, clearly very emotional. “I worked very hard in school in hopes of getting a college scholarship, and I had good enough grades that I did, but...in my third year of college, Grandfather fell very ill, and we didn’t have the money to pay his bills, so...I dropped out. I started working as much as I could.” He looked out the window. “And now I’m here.”

“Clear, that’s…horrible…” Aoba whispered, barely able to believe what he was hearing. Not caring about what the cab driver thought, he circled his arms around Clear’s shoulders, scooting closer towards him. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could make it better.”

“Aoba,” Clear murmured, “You already have. You were the first person to show me real kindness in such a long time.” He kissed him softly on the lips. “You have no idea what that meant to me.”

They fell silent for a while, and they stayed that way for the rest of the ride.

When they arrived at the hospital, Aoba wordlessly let Clear lead the way. They got in an elevator and headed up to the ninth floor.

"Are you nervous?" Clear asked.

Aoba shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

Clear squeezed his hand. "Don't worry; he's nothing to be afraid of."

Once the elevator opened again, Aoba followed Clear down the hall and into a room to find a very pale, sickly old man lying in the bed.

"Clear?" He rasped. "Is that you?"

"Yes, Grandfather." He kissed his weathered forehead and hugged him as best he could, given their positions. "And I brought someone with me."

"Hello," Aoba greeted softly, briefly waving one hand.

"This is Aoba. He's my boyfriend."

"It's nice to meet you, Aoba," Clear's grandfather said, holding a hand out.

"It's nice to meet you, too. Clear tells me all the time how important you are to him." Aoba took his hand, expecting a handshake, but instead, the old man held his hand in both of his, staring intensely into Aoba's eyes.

"Do you love Clear?"

Aoba blushed at the sudden question. "Y-Yes, I do. I really love him." He glanced at Clear. "I couldn't imagine my life without him."

"Will you take care of him when I'm gone?"

"Grandfather..." Clear chided.

"I need to know that I'm not leaving you alone. I need to know that you'll have someone."

"Of course I'll take care of Clear," Aoba whispered, quickly becoming overwhelmed by the emotions in the room. "And I promise I'll be with him as long as I can."

"As long as you can?"

"Yes. That's as much as anyone can promise, right?"

Seemingly satisfied with Aoba's answer, Clear's grandfather released Aoba's hand and smiled, inviting him to sit down.

The mood lightened after a while as they chatted casually and listened as the old man told them stories from his lifetime (which Clear had undoubtedly heard a hundred times before). They stayed as long as they could until the nurses came in and kicked them out.

"He's going to die," Clear said solemnly as they headed home.

"What?" Aoba snapped around to face him. "Don't say that!"

"He is, though. I've known it was coming for a while, but it always seemed abstract, like it was too far away to really think about." He paused. "Now it's happening. It's real. He's going to die."

Aoba didn't know what to say.

*     *     *

For the next few days, Clear visited his grandfather in the hospital. His employers were surprisingly understanding about his situation, and so was the staff at the hospital, so he more or less lived there, even going so far as to sleep on a chair beside the bed. Aoba told Clear it was probably best if he wasn't there with him, and Clear reluctantly agreed.

So Aoba didn't hear from Clear for five days. When his phone finally rang with Clear's number on the caller ID, Aoba answered it, preparing for the worst.

"Clear?"

"Aobaaaaaaa," he wailed, voice thick as if he had been crying for a very long time. Aoba was having a lot of trouble understanding what he was saying. "He's gone, Aoba! What do I do? What am I supposed to do now?"

"Clear, calm down--"

He cut Aoba off, tone frantic. "Please don't leave me! You're all I have now! I love you so much, Aoba, please don't leave me alone--"

"Clear!" He barked.

Clear stopped gibbering. "What?"

"Where are you?"

He sniffed. "A-At the hospital, still."

"Okay. I'm gonna call you a cab, so stay there, alright?"

"You're going to hang up?!" The anxiety started creeping back into his voice.

"No, I'm not! I'll call with the home phone. But hang on a second, okay?"

Soon, Clear was in a taxi on his way home. Aoba stayed on the phone with him until he got there so he could stop him from panicking again. He even went down to the entrance of the building to wait for him.

As soon as he got out of the car, Clear tackled Aoba in an embrace, burying his face in his neck and sobbing.

Aoba stroked his hair to soothe him. "I'm sorry, Clear..."

Clear shook his head against Aoba's shoulder. "Why didn't it work? I did so much, why didn't it work? Why didn't he get better?"

"You did as much as you could...it's not your fault," Aoba assured him, tears springing to his own eyes as he saw how upset Clear was. He tried to pull away so they could go inside, but Clear just followed his movements. "We need to go inside."

Clear slowly loosened his hold and let Aoba move enough that he could let them into the building, but he still didn't let go. It was difficult to climb the stairs with the way Clear was clinging to him, but he didn't push him away. Eventually, they made it up to their apartment.

"Do you want to lie down?" Aoba asked, figuring Clear would want to rest after such an emotionally draining ordeal.

"No."

"No?"

"No," Clear repeated. He had stopped crying, and his face was now devoid of emotion. "I want to be alone."

"Are you...sure?" Aoba asked cautiously. He felt like he was dealing with an injured animal; he didn't know how Clear was going to react.

"Yes. I'm sure."

"Okay. I guess I'll be in the bedroom, then, if you need me."

"Alright."

Aoba wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but he left Clear alone. He shut the door behind him when he went in to sit on the bed, wanting to give Clear some privacy. He wanted nothing more than to be able to help him, so he opened his laptop and enlisted Google for help.

He typed "boyfriend's loved one dead" into the search bar and pressed Enter. The first result was exactly what he was looking for, so he clicked on it. The article told him that it wasn't up to him to take his boyfriend's pain away, and that however his boyfriend chose to grieve was normal. It said to give him space to process the loss.

"This is stupid," Aoba mumbled to himself, and went back to find another. But the next one told him the same thing, and so did the one after that. He spent over two hours reading different variations of the same article before he gave up, deciding to leave Clear alone for the time being. He browsed his favourite online stores to try to take his mind off of it, but he couldn't really focus.

Eventually, Aoba got hungry (as he hadn't yet eaten dinner), so he snuck out into the kitchen. He tried to be quiet, so as not to disturb Clear, but he stopped when he realized Clear was also in the kitchen, cooking with a great deal of concentration on his face.

Aoba was confused. "What are you doing?"

Clear jumped, obviously startled by Aoba's sudden presence, and the knife he had been chopping with slipped out of his grasp. He tried to grab it before it hit the floor, but he caught it by the blade and sliced his palm. He released it instantaneously and it fell to the floor with a clatter.

Aoba cringed. "Oh my God--"

"Will you please just leave me alone?!" Clear shouted, holding his injured hand against his chest.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know you were gonna..." He trailed off, looking at the blood dripping from Clear's hand and onto the floor. "That looks pretty bad, we should go to the--"

"I'm not going to the hospital."

"What?"

Clear's voice was weak. "I'm not going back there."

"Clear, really--"

"I'm not going back there!" He repeated, louder this time.

"Look, I know you're upset, but it could get infected or something! We need to go!" He wrapped Clear's hand in a dish towel in an effort to slow the bleeding.

"Fine."

Clear didn't talk to him on the way to the hospital, or in the waiting room. He didn't hold Aoba's hand while the doctor stitched up his wound, and he didn't ask Aoba to kiss it better (which was a shock). When he started to cry on their way out of the building, he didn't lean on Aoba's shoulder or bury his face in his hair.

But when they were finally home, and they collapsed in a boneless heap on their bed, Clear pulled Aoba close and didn't let go of him until morning.

*     *     *

Clear's behaviour was unpredictable, and Aoba was getting frustrated. One minute, Clear seemed totally fine, and the next he was sobbing hysterically because they were out of milk. It was totally understandable for Clear to be acting like this; that wasn't why Aoba was getting stressed out. He was stressed out because there was nothing he could do to help.

Clear tried going back to work at the coffee shop a few days after his grandfather passed, but they sent him home because he kept zoning out (and because of his injury). Even when he was home, he would spend most of his time sitting in front of the window, staring blankly out at the world. Either that, or frantically doing housework.

One evening, as Clear was polishing the glass ornaments for the seventeenth time that day, Aoba (cautiously) approached him, gently tapping him on the arm.

Clear turned, only slightly surprised. "Aoba?"

"I hate seeing you like this," he murmured, wrapping Clear up in a tender hug.

"I'm sorry that I'm worrying you," Clear said genuinely.

"Don't apologize."

"No, I should. I've been taking my anger out on you, and you don't deserve that. I really am sorry."

"Do you wanna talk about it, maybe?" Aoba suggested. "You haven't been talking much; maybe it'll help you feel better."

"Okay."

They went to the couch. Aoba sat, and Clear lay down with his head in Aoba's lap.

"I'll just listen," Aoba said gently. "You can talk as much as you want."

Clear took a deep breath and exhaled. "He was all I had for a really long time. After my parents died, I felt...awful, and alone, and that I was never going to have anyone love me like that ever again." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "But he did. He loved me."

Aoba stroked Clear's hair as he recounted story after story about his grandfather. Clear was crying by the end of it, but it wasn't the same pained, body-wretching sobbing he had been doing for the past several days. It was just regular-sad crying, which Aoba considered a step in the right direction.

Clear found it helpful to express his feelings, so they started doing that regularly. Aoba always listened to Clear talk and wiped his tears for him when they inevitably fell. Aoba didn't mind, and he didn't think of it as burden; after all, being there for each other was part of the whole relationship thing. Clear was always ready to comfort Aoba whenever he needed it, so Aoba was happy to be able to do the same for him

Though it had definitely been painful, Clear and his grandfather had dealt with the funeral arrangements before his death. Now, Clear didn't have to worry about any of that; all he had to do was show up. Aoba went too, of course, and so did a few of the nurses from the hospital, but there couldn't have been more than five people there.

For several days after, Clear spent a lot of time at his family's grave. Though Aoba was at home more often now that school was done, he didn't complain that Clear was gone so much. Sure, he wished Clear was with him instead, but he understood that he still had a lot of feelings to deal with. After a while, though, Clear stopped silently brooding all the time and started being a productive member of society again. He still spoke about his grandfather occasionally, but he didn't break down in tears at the mere mention of his name, which was good. He wasn't completely over it yet, but he was past the worst part.

*     *     *

Clear's hand eventually healed enough that he was able to return to work, and he actually managed to stay focused for the duration of his first shift back. Aoba came in to visit him for the last ten minutes so he could walk him home.

"How are you holding up?" Aoba asked as he paid for his beverage.

Clear smiled. "Better now that you're here."

He looked like he was in higher spirits than he had been for the past few days. Aoba didn't know if it was because Clear was happy to see him or if it was just a fake-cheery attitude he had to put on to do his job, but he hoped it was the former.

"You know," Aoba said, swirling his drink in his cup absently, "You don't really need to work as much as you do anymore."

Clear visibly stiffened. "What do you mean, Aoba?"

"Don't you think it would be nice to cut back your hours a little bit? You work, like, sixty hours a week."

"But I have to work!"

Aoba frowned. "Why?"

"If I don't work as much as I do, what am I good for? I barely contribute anything to society; all I do is leech off of you."

Aoba scanned Clear's face and realized that he was being one-hundred-percent serious. "I don't see you like that, Clear. I don't think anyone does."

Clear gestured vaguely with a nod of his head. "They do."

"Who?"

"The customers. The people who see me singing on the street in the morning. Everyone, really. They would never say it to my face, but I can tell that they're thinking it."

Aoba huffed. "Well, who cares what they think? They don't even know you."

Clear sighed. "I care, Aoba. People have been looking down on me for such a long time that it has started to affect me. I mean, I don't even pay rent! I appreciate all that you've done for me, but...if I don't work, what am I contributing? What am I doing? What's the point?"

Aoba disagreed, and he knew there were a lot of things Clear needed to hear, but it wasn't the right time to tell him. He would have to get through to Clear later. It occurred to him, then, what he needed to do. It would take a lot of convincing his parents, but he was sure they would go through with it after hearing him out. After all, Clear had done so much for Aoba; he had made him a better person. It was the least they could do to repay him!

*     *     *

Three whole weeks after the initial incident, Aoba decided to try to coax Clear on a date with him. After all, they hadn't spent any quality time together since the day Clear had got the call from the hospital, and Aoba was starting to get lonely.

So, the moment Clear came home from work that evening, Aoba sprung it on him that they were going out.

"Aoba," Clear whined, "I just worked all day! Can't we wait a little while?"

"No! If you sit down, you won't want to get up again." He pushed Clear towards the bedroom. "It's not like we're running a marathon! Hurry up and get changed so we can go!"

Clear changed out of his sweater (which was reeking of coffee) and into the blue shirt Aoba really liked on him, and then they were off.

"Where do you want to go?" Clear asked, sliding his arm around Aoba's waist.

Aoba hadn't thought that far in advance. "I don't know."

They walked in silence for a while. Though they didn't have a destination in mind, they ended up heading in the direction of the café they usually went to. Aoba figured that Clear wouldn't want to go to a coffee shop after working in one for eight hours, but he didn't seem to have a problem with it.

They got their drinks and sat down at a table by the window so they could watch the people as they walked by outside.

"He's cute," Aoba said, nodding to indicate the man who was walking past.

Clear checked him out subtly. "Ooh, you're right! He's a solid nine out of ten."

"What's wrong with him? Why isn't he a ten?"

Clear smiled. "You're the only ten to me."

Aoba glared at Clear in an effort to scold him. "Stop it! We're in public."

"Nobody can hear us!"

 _"I_ can hear us!"

Clear giggled."You're so cute, Aoba."

"This is a public place!" Aoba said firmly. He was smiling, though, so Clear would know he wasn't actually mad. It had been a while since the last time Clear had called Aoba cute, and Aoba hadn't realized how much he missed it.

It had been a while since they had spent any romantic time together, so they couldn't help but be a little bit schmoopy. They made doe-eyes at each other and held hands from across the table, neither one of them really saying anything. They were like that for a while until Clear looked like he wanted to say something.

"What's on your mind?" Aoba asked.

"I just remembered, um...one of my coworkers, Mizuki, has a cat that he can't take care of anymore. He was telling me about it on our break today."

"That's too bad. What's he gonna do with it?"

"I was thinking that maybe we could take it," Clear said in a rush. "It's a purebred, and it cost him a lot of money, but he said I could have it for free if I wanted. What do you think?"

Aoba narrowed his eyes. "Did you already tell him you were going to take it?"

"Um...kind of." He shrank down like a scolded puppy. "Are you mad?"

Aoba took a calming breath and tried to keep his voice down. "Why do you want another pet? We have Ren already."

"I know, I know! But Ren is a nice dog, and Puddles is a nice cat--"

"Puddles?"

"Yes! Puddles is her name. She's a Himalayan cat and she's only a year old!"

"But we have Ren already," Aoba repeated, emphasizing each word.

Clear pouted and his eyes turned glossy as he gazed at Aoba with the saddest, most adorable expression he could muster. "I just think that having Puddles would help me feel less sad...about Grandfather..."

Aoba couldn't believe this. As he looked into Clear's pleading eyes, though, he remembered how absolutely heartbroken Clear had been for the past three weeks, and he wanted nothing more than to make Clear's face stop looking like that, so he caved. "Fine. We'll take the stupid fucking cat."

"Really?" Clear instantly perked up, and Aoba couldn't help but feel like he had just been played. Clear was not the type of person who would use a tragic event to his advantage, and Aoba knew that, but...still.

"Yeah, really. When does he want to give it to you?"

"We could pick her up now...if that's okay?"

Aoba sighed. "Where does he live?"

Clear called Mizuki and inquired about the cat. After talking to him, he told Aoba that they were free to head over at any time. It turned out that Mizuki lived pretty close to them, so Aoba agreed to stop by there before they went home.

"Clear!" Mizuki greeted when he opened the door. "And I see you've brought company! Come on in."

Clear introduced the two of them, explaining that Aoba was his boyfriend and that he would also be responsible for Puddles.

"Before I let you take her, there are a few things you need to know." Mizuki gazed longingly at the cat who was sleeping on the armrest of a chair. "She doesn't like the radio. I don't know why, but she runs and hides from it. It's probably, like, the frequency or something. Anyway, just remember to be careful about the radio."

Clear nodded. "Got it!"

"And if you leave the door open when you shower, she'll try to come in with you. Don't let her in." He laughed. "She thinks she knows what she wants, but she doesn't. She won't like the shower."

"Should we be taking notes?" Aoba joked.

"No need!" Mizuki handed over a piece of lined paper with a lot of writing on it. "I've got you covered."

Thirty minutes later, they were walking back to their apartment with a big bundle of brown fur in tow. The kitty was asleep, cradled in Clear's arms, and Aoba had to admit that she was pretty cute. Clear looked happier, too, now that he was holding the cat. He was nuzzling his face against her fur and babbling gibberish nonsense into her ear and Aoba was actually kind of jealous. The cat hadn't even _done_ anything and she had already brightened Clear's mood, whereas Aoba had struggled to get so much as a chuckle out of him.

When they got home, they expected Puddles to be at least a little bit confused or nervous about the change in scenery, but she was chill. Clear carried her around the apartment, showing her each area and describing it to her as if she were a person. Ren scampered out and started to bark at him, so he decided to (carefully) put Puddles on the floor a safe distance from Ren, ready to intervene if necessary.

Aoba walked over to watch the exchange. Cats and dogs weren't supposed to like each other, so he figured they were going to have a fight. He stood by Ren, and Clear stood by Puddles so they could monitor them closely.

Nothing really happened. Puddles and Ren actually ended up getting along pretty well. After sniffing each other down, they went and snuggled together in Ren's doggy bed and fell asleep. Aoba and Clear followed them, gazing at the dozing pair with love in their eyes.

"Oh my gosh," Clear whispered. "This is the cutest thing I've ever seen."

Aoba side-eyed him. "I thought I was the cutest thing you've ever seen?"

Clear spun on his heel to face him, furrowing his brow apologetically. "You are! You absolutely are! I just meant--"

"I know what you meant," Aoba assured, laughing. "I was just teasing you."

Clear slung an arm around Aoba's waist and leaned against him. "Thank you for letting us take Puddles."

"It's not a big deal. The more, the merrier, right?"

Clear smiled and kissed Aoba chastely on the lips. "Right."

As Aoba stood there beside Clear, looking down at their pets, he felt a warm kind of happiness swell in his chest. They were sort of like a family, and although half of them were covered in fur, Aoba thought they all fit together pretty well. On impulse, he pulled Clear closer and kissed him again, smiling against his mouth before they broke apart.

"You're so important to me," he whispered. "You know that?"

"You're important to me, too. The most important thing." He hugged Aoba close and said, "I am never going to let you go."

Aoba smiled, squeezing him tightly. "You better not."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KITTY!!!!!!!! ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡ i liked writing about the kitty. highlight of the chapter tbh. also i definitely think clear is a cat person


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba's parents show some kindness, and Clear struggles with his self-worth (again).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just want to give clear a big hug but i cant so i make aoba do it instead
> 
> i promise this is the last bit of angst (?) that's gonna be in this fic i s2g

Aoba's parents said they were going to be in town, and they wanted to have dinner with Aoba and Clear. Sei and Tae weren't going to be there, which was a bit of a disappointment to Aoba. He wished his whole family could be there, but maybe it was better this way. He had discussed something with his parents about a week ago, and he was pretty sure it was going to come up during their visit together. There was a chance that Clear would react badly, so Aoba figured it was best not to do it in front of a lot of people.

His parents told them to meet them at one of the classiest restaurants in the area, so (unfortunately) Aoba and Clear had to fancy themselves up. Clear twisted Aoba’s hair in an elegant updo, and in return, Aoba parted Clear’s hair to the side and slicked it down so he looked like a little boy going to church. They thought they looked so silly that they just _had_ to take a picture.

As they looked at the photo, they realized that their mission to take enough selfies to fill the giant frame was complete! In fact, they had a surplus of photos; in addition to the one they had just taken, they had the one the took at the furniture, and two from their date last week. Koujaku had taken a few pictures of them the first time they had done karaoke (which he had forgotten about until just recently) and sent them to Aoba. Not to mention the countless photos Clear took while they were snuggling! They had dozens of pictures, now, and all they needed were seven.

They got to the restaurant before Aoba’s parents did, so they sat at the table and ordered drinks for them while they waited (because Aoba knew his parents well enough to guess what they would want). The other patrons were almost entirely middle-aged, so Clear and Aoba felt like they stood out. Aoba could tell Clear was uncomfortable in such a setting, so he took Clear’s hand under the table and rubbed his thumb over the back of it. Clear smiled at him and squeezed his hand in return.

“Aoba! Clear! Oh gosh, we’re so sorry we’re late!” Haruka apologized as they approached the table.

“It’s not a problem!” Clear assured, smiling politely. “We haven’t been here long.”

They exchanged greetings, and then Aoba’s parents sat across from Aoba and Clear. The waiter came and took their order after a few minutes.

"Aoba has told us of your grandfather's passing," Haruka said sombrely. "We're so sorry to hear that."

"Thank you," Clear said sincerely, squeezing Aoba's hand again under the table.

"Will you still be working as much?" Naine asked. "You won't have as many expenses now that you don't need to pay for his treatments, right?"

"Naine! Don't ask him something like that."

"It's okay, Mrs. Seragaki." He turned his attention to Aoba's father. "I plan on maintaining my current hours. I don't really have any other responsibilities, and I depend on Aoba for so much that I would like to keep working, mostly just to pull my own weight."

Naine took a sip of his drink and swallowed. "What if you had other responsibilities?"

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever considered going back to school? You were halfway finished when you dropped out, right?"

"Um..." Clear hesitated a bit, rightfully confused about how Naine had known that information. "Yes, I was."

"So? What have you thought about it?"

"I have considered it, but I just don't have the money to go any further."

"What if I gave you the money?"

Clear froze. Aoba saw him glance at him, so he stayed silent and tried to keep his face under control. He didn't want to give himself away just yet!

"You want to be a musician, right? You only need to do two more years of school, which isn't that much." Naine steepled his fingers Gendo Ikari-style. "I could spare that amount."

"That's very kind of you, sir, b-b-but that's just too much--"

"Nonsense. Aoba has let us hear recordings of your singing, and you're very talented. Consider it an investment. I'll fund your education, maybe set you up with some connections once you've graduated. And, in return, I'll be able to see my son live a happy life with the person he loves."

"B-But...why?"

"Aoba has opened our eyes. You've done a lot for him, and he thinks it's fair for us to repay you."

Aoba glanced at Clear and saw that he had tears streaming down his cheeks.

"And," Naine continued, "Don't worry about the application; I'm friends with several members of the board of directors at the university, and they've already ensured you a spot."

Haruka handed Clear a tissue from her purse so he could dry his tears.

"Thank you so much," Clear whispered, still in shock a little bit. "You have no idea how grateful I am. I can't thank you enough times to show you how I feel about this."

Aoba's parents smiled warmly. "It's not a problem at all," Naine assured.

Haruka said, "Aoba told us that you two are pretty serious, so if you're going to be a part of our family, it's only right for us to extend some kindness towards you."

Aoba blushed. "Mom! Don't tell _him_ that!"

Haruka blinked innocently. "Don't tell him what? That you said you think you've found the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with?"

"You said that?" Clear asked, eyes wide.

"Oh my God," Aoba mumbled, burying his face in his palms. "Kill me, please. End my suffering."

"Yooou like meee!" Clear sang teasingly, poking Aoba in the ribs.

"Of course I like you!" Aoba grumbled. "You like me, too!"

"But you _really_ like me!"

"So do you!"

Clear brought his wiggling finger away from Aoba's side, poking at his cheek instead. "You _looove_ me!"

"Oh my God," Aoba groaned, but he broke down laughing after a moment.

"Are you like this all the time?" Haruka asked, which brought Clear and Aoba back into the present and reminded them that they were not alone.

Aoba cleared his throat and shifted away from his embarrassingly childish boyfriend. "Most of the time, yeah."

"That must be nice. You're only in love like that for a short time until it gets dull. Isn't that right, Naine?"

Naine laughed. "Yes, that's right."

Their conversation ceased as the waiter returned with their food. They were quiet for a while as they started to eat. Eventually, though, Haruka tried to get everyone talking again.

"So, Aoba," she started, "You never did tell us what you and Clear did for your birthday!"

Aoba shrugged and said, "He took me out, but we didn't do anything extravagant."

"I'm sure it was nice. Did Clear give you anything?"

Aoba smiled a little bit at the memory. "Remember the recordings I showed you of Clear singing? He actually recorded himself for me."

"That's such a sweet idea!" Haruka cooed. "Now you can hear him sing even if he's not there with you, right?"

"Right," Aoba said, nodding.

Naine started talking with Clear about the whole school thing again, so Aoba tuned him out. He noticed that Clear seemed a lot more relaxed than he had been the first time he met Aoba's parents. Aoba had feared that Clear would get upset when Aoba's family offered to pay his tuition (after all, he still got mad sometimes when Aoba wouldn't let him pay for lunch), but everything went well.

Or so he thought.

At the end of the night, once they said goodbye to his parents (and Clear thanked them a hundred million times again), Aoba noticed Clear was frowning at the ground with his mouth pressed in a firm line.

"What's wrong?" Aoba asked.

"I feel bad."

"Why?"

"I shouldn't have accepted that."

"What? Why not?"

"It's too much money! They don't even know me that well."

"They did it because of me."

Clear glared at him a little bit. "Why did you ask your parents to do that?"

Aoba was getting kind of mad. "Because I thought you would appreciate it!"

"I do appreciate it! I appreciate it more than you know, but...you can understand why I'm upset, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. I would have asked you about it first, but I knew you would have said no."

"Of course I would have told you not to do that! That's a lot of money to throw away--"

 _"'Throw away?'_ It's not throwing money away, Clear. They want you to be happy. They want _us_ to be happy."

The cab pulled up to the sidewalk, then, so they stopped their pseudo-argument to spare the driver the headache. By the time they were home, they didn't feel like talking about it anymore, so they just watched TV until it was time to go to bed.

*     *     *

The next morning, Aoba woke up an hour before his alarm to find _something_ pressing against his leg. He considered waking Clear up so he could make good use of it. They hadn't had sex since his grandfather passed, and Aoba was pretty pent-up (though he could completely understand Clear's temporary lack of sex drive).

Clear shifted in his sleep, and he moaned a little bit as his boner rubbed against Aoba's thigh. Aoba wondered what he was dreaming about. (He hoped it was him.)

"Clear," he whispered, nudging him with his elbow. "Wake up."

Clear mumbled unintelligibly, but didn't open his eyes. Aoba had to bump him a few more times to get him to actually wake up.

"Aoba?" He asked, groggy. "Is something wrong?"

Aoba pushed his hip further against Clear's erection. "You're hard."

Clear shifted away from him in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. Was it bothering you?"

"No." Aoba moved to follow and slid his palm over the bulge in Clear's pyjama pants. "But we shouldn't waste it, right?"

Clear yawned. "What do you mean?"

"We're both awake now, and we don't have to get up for a while, so we should have sex."

"Aobaaa," Clear whined. His eyelids started to drift closed again. "I wanna go back to sleep."

"You can sleep when you get home from work!"

"We can have sex when I get home from work," Clear sassed, but he sat up and stretched anyway.

Aoba pulled Clear over so he was on his elbows and knees on top of him. Clear's eyes were still swollen half-shut, and he had lines pressed into his cheek from the pillowcase, but Aoba thought he was cute even in his sleepy state.

"You've got some drool on your face," Clear politely informed him, wiping it away with the bedsheet. "And your eyes are kind of crusty."

Aoba laughed at his bluntness. "Does it turn you off?"

"No," Clear said, smiling down at him. His voice was rough with sleep, and Aoba thought it was kind of hot. "Even like this, you're the most beautiful person in the whole world."

Aoba rolled his eyes. "You're exaggerating."

"I'm not! I swear." He leaned down and kissed Aoba before he could try to argue again.

"Eugh." Aoba pulled back. "Your mouth tastes disgusting, oh my God."

Clear chuckled. "So does yours, sweetheart."

"Whatever. Maybe it'll go away if we kiss enough." He pulled Clear down and sealed their lips together again. As he lazily explored Clear's mouth, he could taste his morning breath, but he supposed it wasn't so bad. It was still Clear, and even though it was kind of gross, there was nobody else he would rather be making out with.

Clear broke away to yawn again. Aoba yawned, too.

"I guess we should take our clothes off, right?" Clear reasoned. He tugged his own shirt over his head, then took Aoba's off, too.

"I don't tell you enough," Aoba murmured as he took in the sight of Clear's body, "But you're really hot. Like, I'm hard right now just from looking at you."

Clear giggled. "I'm the same way with you." He then slipped his pants off, and Aoba did the same. Sure enough, they were both fully aroused.

Aoba smiled. "It's been a while since the last time I saw him," he said, gently poking Clear's dick with his forefinger.

"Him?" Clear sounded amused. "He's separate from the rest of me?"

"Yeah, he's like a little Clear! Though 'little' is the wrong word to use..."

Clear snorted with laughter. "I'm flattered."

Aoba passed him the lube from the bedside drawer, then, and it only took a few minutes to have Aoba stretched out enough for Clear to enter him.

"Are you alright if I go in now?"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead."

Clear mouthed at Aoba's neck to distract him while he pushed in. As he did, Aoba cried out, tangling his hands in Clear's hair and holding onto him for dear life. Once he was adjusted, Aoba let go of him a little bit, allowing him room to back away so he could meet his gaze. Aoba smiled a sleepy smile at him and told him he was ready.

As Clear started to move, Aoba could tell he was tired; it was reflected in the lazy, slow pace of his thrusts. Aoba didn't mind, though.

"This was a really good idea," Clear mumbled between sloppy kisses to Aoba's jaw.

"Yeah," Aoba agreed, voice breathy. "And now you get to go to work with hickeys on your neck." He dragged his finger over the lovebites he had earlier placed.

Clear smiled and said, "That's what concealer is for!"

Usually, when they started to feel themselves approaching climax, they would pick up the pace and let the passion take over. This time, though, they didn't have the strength to push themselves any harder, so they just kept at it with the same casual rhythm.

Their orgasms were less intense than they could have been, but that was fine. Aoba's moans weren't as loud as they normally were, and Clear didn't really lose control of his hips as he came inside of him, but that didn't mean they weren't satisfied. It wasn't like every time would be the best sex they'd ever had; they knew that. They enjoyed it regardless.

As they were savoring the afterglow, they were rudely interrupted by the sharp beeping of their alarm clock.

"Stupid piece of shit," Aoba grumbled as he ripped the power cord out of the socket instead of just hitting the button.

Clear laughed way harder than he should have. "You didn't need to _unplug_ it!"

"It ruined our moment!" Aoba pouted, glaring at the cord in his hand with malice.

After pressing a sweet kiss to Aoba's cheek, Clear said, "It's time to get up, anyway. Do you want me to make breakfast?"

Aoba nodded. "Can you make pancakes?"

"Absolutely," Clear assured with a smile.

*     *     *

Although their morning together was nice and peaceful, their evening had a few bumps. Aoba's father called while they were cleaning up after dinner, informing Clear that he needed to register for classes. He gave him all the necessary instructions (which Clear wrote down), and once the call had ended, Clear buried his face in his hands and exhaled heavily.

"Are you still upset?" Aoba asked, but his tone held no judgement.

Clear kept his hands on his face as he spoke. "I'm very grateful, but it's just too much! I feel guilty accepting it."

"It would be an insult to my parents if you didn't. I know they used to be a little...unenthusiastic about our relationship, but they've changed! They really just want you to not have to struggle. That's all."

"I understand that they're doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, but it's still difficult for me to accept it."

"Why?"

Clear sighed. "I feel like a charity case. I don't like having things handed to me; I want to be able to do it by myself."

"Then why do you let me buy you so many things? Why are you okay with not paying any rent?" Aoba hadn't meant to sound mean. In his head, he was just curious and he wanted to know the answer. Once he had said it, though, he realized how awful it sounded, and he wished he could snatch the words from the air and stuff them back into his mouth.

"I'm sorry." Clear looked like he felt sincerely guilty. "You're always so insistent about it; I thought it made you happy to do those things for me, so I stopped protesting it. I hadn't realized how selfish I was being."

Aoba's chest ached at the sight of Clear sadly looking down at his feet. "It does make me happy! That's not what I meant. I was just wondering what the difference is between accepting my gifts and accepting my parents' gift."

"I guess...it's not really that different, is it?"

Aoba smiled. "So just think of it like that! My parents want to help you, so they're happy to give you that much money. It's not selfish to take it."

"They're not just giving me money because feel bad for me?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Then...why would they care?"

Aoba frowned. "What?"

Clear got all teary-eyed all of a sudden, and before Aoba had a chance to try to stop him, he was full-on crying. He sniffed once and said, meekly, "Why do you all care about me so much?"

It made sense to Aoba now. Clear had felt uncomfortable about it because he thought it was an act of pity, and he was just now realizing that it was because Aoba's family genuinely cared about him. It broke Aoba's heart to realize that Clear didn't think he was worthy of that.

He walked over to Clear and pulled him into an embrace. "You're special, Clear. You're worth it." He nuzzled against his chest when he felt Clear squeeze him extra-tightly. Aoba could feel his body shaking with sobs, so he tried his best to soothe him by rubbing his back.

Eventually, Clear calmed down, so Aoba pulled back a little bit. He had a fun idea to brighten the mood and he wanted to share it.

"You know what we should do?" He asked, grinning.

Clear grinned, too. "What should we do?"

"Let's go get our pictures printed so we can put them on the wall!" He put his hands on Clear's cheeks and swiped his tears away with his thumbs. "What could be better than spending three thousand yen on something we could do ourselves if we had a printer?"

So, after putting their best photos on a memory stick, they went to the nearest photo printing shop. Before they actually went in and did it, Aoba wanted to double-check something.

"Are any of these pictures embarrassing?"

Clear shook his head. "Not that I know of."

"Did I look ugly in any of them?"

"You can't look ugly, Aoba. It's impossible."

"Be honest!"

"None of them were ugly!"

"If they are and you don't tell me, I'm gonna punch you in the face. I'm serious."

Clear laughed. "I don't doubt it!"

They went in, then, and Aoba handed the memory stick over to the clerk, saying, "We'd like to have these printed, please!"

The kid on the other side of the counter scratched their nose. "How many?"

"There are only seven pictures, and we wanna get one copy of each."

The clerk sighed. "Fine. Gimme twenty minutes."

After twenty minutes of standing outside the shop while Aoba ranted about how rude the employee had been, they went back in to see if they were done.

Clear decided to speak this time. "Hi again! Did we give you enough time?"

"Yep! It's all done." The once-sullen teenager seemed brighter than when they had been talking to Aoba. Damn Clear and his infectious charm!

Aoba paid, and they left again with their photos and memory stick safely tucked away in Clear's pocket.

Once they were home, Aoba got the frame out and set it on the kitchen table. Clear laid the photos down beside it.

"How should we arrange them?" Clear asked.

"The one of us kissing should definitely go in the middle, and maybe the one from this morning can go over here?" He tapped one of the sections with his fingernail.

"I think this one should be in the top part," Clear said, pointing to the picture of Aoba laughing at him (because he was wearing his old dorky glasses from high school).

After some careful deliberation, they put the photos in the frame and tried to decide where to hang it up.

"We should put it near the front entrance!" Clear suggested. "That way, everyone will immediately know how happily in love we are."

"The only people we have over are Koujaku and Noiz, and they already know. We should put it in our room."

"But then we'll never look at it!"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Because we're only in our room if we're sleeping or having sex!"

Aoba hummed. "You have a point."

They decided to put it in the living space. That way, guests could see it, but it wasn't the first thing they saw when they walked in.

As they stood in front of the mounted frame, Clear sighed dreamily and said, "We're so cute."

"We really are. Let's not stop taking pictures, okay? So when we're older and our kids ask us what we were like before, we'll have lots of pictures to show them."

Clear kissed Aoba on the cheek. "I was just about to say the same thing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do people actually have morning sex? idk but i think i portrayed it accurately lmao


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba and Clear go on a vacation to Palau.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wanted this to be longer but it wasn't gonna happen lmao

Summer was almost here, which meant that their big jellyfish expedition was fast approaching. Aoba could tell how excited Clear was; he was even cheerier than usual, practically thrumming with energy every morning when he woke up. He whistled happily as he went about his daily tasks, and he was particularly vigorous in the bedroom. Clear was excitable enough as it was, so he was almost too much for Aoba to handle, but he managed.

They left their packing until the very last minute, so they were up past midnight the night before they left. Aoba was grateful their flight wasn't until noon so they didn't have to get up extremely early. Unfortunately, he hadn't taken Clear's entire personality into consideration, so he was unpleasantly surprised when he was shaken awake before his alarm the next morning.

"Get up! Get up! Get up! We have to go!"

Aoba groaned and fought back a little bit, but decided to get out of bed anyway. He left the bedroom to find that Clear had gathered their luggage at the front door, and that he was already lacing his shoes up. Aoba was still in his pyjamas.

"We don't have to leave for an hour, and even then we'll be early." He put a pot of coffee on and leaned against the kitchen counter as he waited for it to brew.

"But Aobaaa," Clear whined, "I don't want us to be late!"

"We won't! God, haven't you been on a plane before?"

Clear shook his head.

Aoba's eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious?"

"Yes!”

“Well, I guess I’m not really that surprised. Are you scared?”

“Maybe a little bit,” he admitted. “But I feel better about it knowing I’ll have you beside me!”

“You can hold my hand if you get nervous.”

“I’ll hold your hand anyway!”

*     *     *

Aoba used to experience anxiety on flights, so he had got a prescription for a mild sedative from his doctor several months ago. He had brought the pills with him, just in case, but he didn’t feel like he needed them this time.

Clear, on the other hand, _definitely_ needed them. He was clinging to Aoba with all of his might (which was saying a lot) and the plane hadn’t even taken off yet!

“Are you gonna be okay?” Aoba asked Clear (whose teeth were now chattering).

“I’ll be fine,” Clear said way too quickly. Aoba didn’t want him to have a panic attack, so he dug through his carry-on until he found what he was looking for. He shook two of the white pills out into his palm and passed them to Clear along with a water bottle.

“Take those,” he ordered. “You’ll feel better before we get off the ground.”

Clear did as he was told. After about ten minutes, Aoba could tell he was beginning to calm down. He was composed (albeit a little loopy) when they took off, and by the time the plane was fully ascended, he was...chill, to say the very least.

“You’re so beautiful,” Clear said with a bit of a slur as he squished Aoba’s face in his hands. “I could look into your eyes forever. They're, like, the colour of sunshine."

Aoba sighed. Half of him wanted to take the pills, too, just to see what level Clear was on, but he knew one of them had to be rational. Maybe he should have given Clear just one pill to start with.

“And your hair is so pretty!” He took some of Aoba’s hair by the ends and held it up in front of his face. “You look like a Smurf. But, like, a reverse Smurf, you know? ‘Cause your skin is a human colour, but your hair is blue.”

“Thanks.”

“Why is it blue? Do you dye it?”

“You think I’d go to the trouble of dying all my body hair?”

“I don't know what you do when you're not with me.”

“I don’t. I was born like this.”

“You know, if you didn’t shave, you’d look like the Cookie Monster. I think about that a lot, but I’ve never said anything about it.”

Aoba narrowed his eyes. “If _you_ didn’t shave, you’d look like Santa.”

Clear cackled, and the sound was loud enough to make a few people look over. “Would you still love me?”

“Maybe.”

“You’re so mean, Aoba. I’d love you even if you were covered head-to-toe in blue fur!”

“Would you really?”

“Yes! It would be fun to hug you.”

“Maybe you should try to sleep. Aren’t you tired? That stuff is supposed to make you sleepy.”

Clear kept talking as if he hadn’t heard him. “Not that hugging you isn’t fun already. I just meant...you know? You’d be all fuzzy.”

Aoba chuckled. “I understand.”

"I'd love you no matter what, Aoba. You know that? Even if you...like, even if you grew another arm. I'd still love you. We gotta be there for each other, you know? That's what this is all about."

"What what is all about?"

"All of this, you know?"

"All of what?"

"What?"

"All of what?" Aoba repeated.

Clear stared at him blankly. "What?"

Aoba giggled. "You should really try to sleep, you know. There's still four hours left of the flight."

Clear rolled his eyes and said "whatever" but he put his head on Aoba's shoulder and fell asleep shortly after.

*     *     *

Clear was still sleepy when they landed in Palau, but the mild high had worn off. They got off the plane and navigated through the airport, finding it kind of difficult due to the language barrier. They found their way out, though, and took the bus to their hotel.

"What are we doing now?" Clear asked.

"We have to check in and put our stuff in the hotel now, but after we’re done I kinda wanted to walk around a little bit. Unless you're too tired?"

"Absolutely not. I don't want to waste a second," Clear said, but his tone was unenthusiastic.

"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have given you two of them."

"I'm good! I'm good. I'll be fine by the time we get there."

True to his word, he was fine by the time they got to the hotel. So, after a few minutes of freaking out over how big the room was and rolling around on the bed (which even Aoba took part in), they left the hotel to just walk around aimlessly. Aoba had read online that Palau was a less accepting country than Japan when it came to same-sex relations, and he explained that to Clear so he wouldn’t try to hold his hand or kiss him or something.

Clear pouted. “What’s the point of going out if we can’t openly show everyone how happy we are? The people need to know, Aoba. They deserve to.”

“If we aren’t affectionate now, it’ll be more exciting when we get back to our room and we can finally put our hands on each other, right? Just think about it like that!”

For the duration of the afternoon, they kept a half-metre distance between them. Clear almost broke it several times, and even Aoba found himself reaching for Clear’s hand every once in a while, but nobody gave them weird looks or anything. They went to shop after shop after shop and Clear had to remind Aoba that everything they bought had to fit in their luggage, so he couldn’t buy _everything._

“But we have to get something for Koujaku and Noiz!”

“Didn’t we already?”

“A keychain isn’t enough, Clear.”

When they finally returned to their room that evening, Aoba realized Clear had been right. He had bought too many souvenirs to fit in their suitcases. Maybe Ren didn't really need six novelty ID tags, after all.

*     *     *

The next day, when it came time to see the jellyfish, Aoba decided it was best to go on a guided tour instead of navigating the Rock Islands alone. They had been assured that it was perfectly safe to snorkel with the jellyfish, so they wore their swimming trunks as if they were regular shorts so they didn't have to change once they got there (though they packed extra shorts for the walk back).

It wasn't until they had left the hotel that Aoba started to feel self-conscious.

"Are my shorts too short?" He asked Clear quietly as they rode in the tourist shuttle. His shorts only went a couple of centimetres past his butt and he was worried that it might offend the other visitors.

Clear hummed. "They're shorter than mine, but they're nothing scandalous."

"Are you sure you're not just saying that because you like the way my ass looks in them?"

"That certainly doesn't hurt, but I meant what I said."

Despite Clear's assurance, Aoba found himself constantly tugging his shorts down when he felt them riding up.

When the tour group arrived at their destination, the tour guides informed them that they could either snorkel around the whole area first or go to the jellyfish first. Naturally, Clear wanted to see the jellyfish as soon as possible. It was a ten-minute hike to get to Jellyfish Lake, but they didn't mind. About half of the group went to snorkel around the islands first, and the rest of them went to see the jellies. Aoba could almost feel Clear's excitement as he walked beside him.

"Have you ever seen a jellyfish in real life, Clear?"

"No! Not even at an aquarium."

"There are a lot of things you haven't done," Aoba noted.

Clear shrugged. "I suppose it's because I've never had the opportunity."

"Then I'll have to make sure that we do lots of things together! I don't want you missing out on any experiences."

"You're so sweet, Aoba."

When they got to the lake, the tour guide explained how to properly wear the snorkel mask and fins, and Clear listened surprisingly well. Aoba had anticipated that he would be difficult to control, but it wasn’t a problem.

Aoba had brought an underwater camera with him so he could document what was sure to be a very memorable moment. He took a few pictures of Clear struggling to put the snorkel fins on his feet while he waited for him.

Aoba was a decent swimmer, but Clear was kind of scared, so he had to use a kickboard. They swam out together until they could start to see the jellyfish, at which point Clear let go of the flotation device to look under the water. Aoba looked, too, and he was stunned. There were so many jellyfish beneath them that he couldn’t count how many there were. Most of them were either pink or a pale yellow colour, and they almost looked like they were dancing.

When they looked up again, Aoba noticed that Clear was getting kind of emotional.

“I know it’s silly,” Clear laughed, lifting the snorkel mask to wipe his tears, “But this is a really big deal to me. Thank you so much, Aoba.”

“It’s not silly! Everyone has things that are important to them.” He gently tugged Clear’s arm and said, “Do you wanna swim underwater? We can see them more closely that way,”

Though Aoba could tell he was nervous, Clear nodded, and they swam under until they were close enough to the jellies to touch them. They still had stingers, but they weren’t strong enough to cause serious damage, so Aoba tentatively reached his hand out and poked one of them on the top of its body. Clear did the same, though he was careful not to hurt it. Aoba took several pictures of Clear as he patted the jellyfish, knowing he would appreciate looking at them later.

Since they were underwater, Aoba wasn’t nervous about being affectionate with Clear. He took his mouthpiece out and helped Clear do the same, and then swam closer to kiss him. It was really romantic, passionately kissing while hundreds and hundreds of jellyfish swirled around them, but after a few seconds they had to literally come up for air. Once they had caught their breath, though, they went right back under to see the jellyfish again.

The lake itself was beautiful, but Aoba couldn't stop staring at Clear. He weaved gracefully through the jellyfish, completely enraptured by them, and it warmed Aoba’s heart to see Clear in such a state. He couldn't hear his joyful laughter, but he could see it clear as day on his face. He knew that there was nothing he wanted more than to keep making Clear that happy.

*     *     *

One afternoon, as they were laying on the beach half-asleep, Aoba's phone started to ring.

"Gah!" He cried, startled, and grappled for his phone in the sand. It was Koujaku, so he answered it. "Hello?"

"Aoba! I hate to bother you on your vacation, but something just happened and I have to tell you!"

"What happened?"

Clear sat up and asked who it was, and Aoba shushed him.

Aoba could hear the smile in Koujaku's voice. "I asked Noiz to marry me."

"What?!"

Clear nudged Aoba with his elbow. "What?"

"And he said yes! Can you believe that?"

"No!" Aoba answered honestly.

"Is it Koujaku?" Clear asked.

Ignoring Clear, Aoba said, "When's the wedding? Do you know yet?"

Clear's eyes widened. "Wedding?!"

"We haven't really talked about it. I mean, it's kind of pointless when you think about it, but...we can afford to have a meaningless ceremony, so why not, right?"

"It's not pointless! It has meaning for you guys, doesn't it? Just because the government doesn't think it's real doesn't mean it isn't."

"Who's getting married?" Clear asked.

"Anyway, I'll let you get back to what you were doing. Have fun!"

"I'll see you when we get back!" He hung up and turned to Clear, then shoved him into the sand.

"Ack!"

"You're so annoying! Just wait until the call is over next time! I could barely hear what he was saying."

Clear pouted dejectedly. "I'm sorry."

"It was Koujaku. He proposed to Noiz, and Noiz said yes."

"Really? That's so exciting!"

"I know!

Clear furrowed his brow. "But...they can't get married, can they?"

"Not really. They can have a wedding, though, so it'll feel like the same thing. It'll be symbolic, I guess."

Clear traced the sand around Aoba's fingers but didn't actually touch him. "I'm happy for them. Just because they're not married on paper doesn't mean they're not married in their hearts, right?"

Aoba smiled. "Right."

*     *     *

"I don't want to leave," Clear lamented after a passionate round of lovemaking on their last evening before they went home.

"Me, neither," Aoba sighed. "Hotel sex is so much better than regular sex. I mean, it's always really good, but it's just...more exciting in a hotel, you know?"

Clear nodded. "I feel the same way." He kissed Aoba on the forehead and continued. "I really enjoyed spending this week with you, Aoba. Thank you for doing this for me."

"I had fun, too. Where should we go next time?"

"Next time?"

"Yeah! We can go wherever you want."

Clear’s eyes lit up. “Anywhere?”

“Anywhere.”

Clear grinned and caught Aoba in a rolling hug, peppering his face with kisses. “I’m the luckiest person in the whole world!”

Aoba kissed him back and said, “I’m lucky, too.”

They smiled tenderly at each other for a few seconds, but then Clear’s eyes widened as if he had just noticed something.

"You got a tan," he pointed out. "Look!" He pushed the covers down to their knees and, sure enough, Aoba's skin was slightly bronzed.

"You're right!"

"But you have tan lines where your little shorts were," Clear giggled, tracing the lines with his finger. "It looks cute."

"You're kind of tanned, too," Aoba said as he looked at the difference in Clear's skin tone. "But mostly just from the waist up."

It made sense that they got a bit of a tan; though Clear had insisted they use an excessive amount of sunscreen, they had spent most of their time outside (and they had gone back to see the jellyfish almost every day). As Aoba remembered the fun they’d had, he was a bit depressed that they had to go home and return to their normal lives. He reminded himself that he and Clear still had a lot of exciting things ahead of them, which made him feel better about it. There were so many things they had to do together; they were just getting started.

“So,” Clear said with reluctance, “What are we going to do about all of those souvenirs?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we can leave some of your clothes behind.”

 _”My_ clothes?!”

“Well, we’re not leaving anything of mine!”

“You’re the one who bought the souvenirs in the first place!”

Aoba ended up winning the argument (and he promised to buy Clear some new pants to replace the ones he had to leave behind in the hotel).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i too have left clothes behind in a hotel to make room for souvenirs


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba makes an interesting discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promised and now i am delivering

Aoba was absently scrolling through Twitter when his phone buzzed with a text from Noiz.

"Kou and I were watching porn," it read, "And we found something you're gonna want to see."

Though momentarily grossed out at Noiz's bluntness, Aoba decided to click the link that was included in the message. It lead him to a video on a porn website, entitled "Muscle Guy Bangs Cute Bottom in Locker Room." Clear was out, running some errands, so Aoba wasn't hesitant to watch it.

The video opened, unsurprisingly, with two men in a locker room. One was changing, completely oblivious to the guy casually beating off in the corner of the room. The camera panned up to show the perv's face and--

Aoba paused the video and threw his phone across the room.

"Oh my God," he gasped to himself, eyes wider than he thought was possible. "Oh my God."

He was frozen in his position on the couch. He wanted to get his phone to check if he had really just seen that, but he was too stunned to move.

Eventually, his curiosity overcame his shock and he retrieved his phone (thanking God that his screen wasn't cracked). He went back to the video, and...yep. That was unmistakably Clear on the screen.

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense; Clear had been struggling to make ends meet, and he was certainly... _endowed_ enough to be in that kind of film, so why wouldn't he have taken the opportunity?

Aoba unpaused the video with caution. The tiny little thing Clear's character had been eyeing was turning around, finally taking notice of him. He slinked over and said a corny line that Aoba barely registered because in the next instant, he was on his knees, deepthroating Clear better than Aoba ever could. It should have made him mad, really; it should have upset him to see Clear with another man, but it didn't.

He could hardly believe it, but it was turning him on.

By the time Clear had bent the guy over the bench so he could fuck his whiny ass, Aoba was so hard that he shoved his pants down to his ankles and started to jerk off, spitting in his palm to use as makeshift lube to make it more pleasurable.

Clear's hips were really going-- _did he look like that when he was with Aoba?_ \--and he was groaning almost-exaggeratedly. It was all so over-the-top and...well...pornographic, but Aoba was totally into it.

So into it, in fact, that he didn't hear Clear come in.

“Aoba?”

“Oh, shit, uh…”

“Oh my God.” Clear looked at Aoba's face, then to his groin, then to his phone (which was still playing the video at maximum volume). He didn’t move from where he stood, and his face was frozen in a look of absolute horror.

"You didn't tell me you were in a porno," Aoba blurted out after he paused the video.

"You didn't ask!"

"I'm not mad," Aoba assured. He nodded pointedly at his cock in his hand and said, "I liked it, actually."

Clear dropped the grocery bags on the floor and covered his eyes with his hands. "How did you find it?"

"Noiz sent it to me."

Clear looked at Aoba through his fingers. "Noiz saw it?!"

"Yeah. Koujaku did, too."

Clear was blushing and fidgeting with his hands, shuffling his feet bashfully as if he was unsure what to do. He didn't seem like the same man Aoba had been masturbating to a second ago.

"Did you make any other ones?"

Clear's expression was apologetic. "I really needed the money, Aoba! It was a long time ago."

"So there are more?"

Clear nodded. "I'll show you."

He sat on the couch with Aoba (who had put his pants back on) and brought up his series of videos on Aoba's laptop. There were five in total, but one of the oldest ones had a title that caught Aoba's eye: "Albino Twink Gets Dominated By Bara Daddy."

"Were you the albino twink?" Aoba asked curiously.

Clear looked down at the floor. "Yes."

"Don't be ashamed! I get dominated by you all the time."

"It's still embarrassing!"

"So...you won't let me see it?"

Clear sighed. "I don't mind; I don't want to keep anything from you." He clicked on the video to play it.

Unlike the first video, this one got right to it. Clear was face-down on a bed with his ass arched up into the air while a man (who definitely fit the description in the title) plowed into him and called him demeaning names. Clear didn't seem to mind it, though. He clawed at the bedsheets and choked out a long, ragged moan when the guy pulled his hair.

"Do you...are you into that sort of thing?" Aoba whispered.

"Not really. It was mostly acting, though I suppose I enjoyed it a little bit. Maybe it was the thrill of being on camera?" He mused. "But it wasn't totally unenjoyable."

That seemed like an understatement. No amount of acting could produce the kinds of noises Clear was making.

As Aoba watched Clear obviously taking pleasure in bottoming, it reminded him of something that he had been planning on doing for a while.

He nudged Clear with his elbow and stood up. "Come with me. There's something I wanna show you."

"What is it?"

"Just come with me!" Aoba set the laptop aside and pulled Clear along to the bedroom. Those videos were hot, Aoba had to admit, and they had left him aching. It excited him as he realized that so many people had watched them and lusted after Clear, but they would never have him. He was Aoba's.

“Aoba...did those videos turn you on?”

“Yeah,” Aoba admitted. “I thought I would be mad, but I’m not. How old were you when you did them, anyway?”

“I had just turned nineteen. I was in school, so I didn’t have a lot of time to work, but I still needed to make money, so I turned to that.” His eyes darted around, obviously uncomfortable. “Are you sure you aren’t upset? I would completely understand if you were!”

“I’m not! I swear. In fact, seeing you getting dominated by that bara daddy gave me an idea.”

Clear raised an eyebrow slightly. “It did?”

“Yeah! Well, I had the idea a few weeks ago, but I just remembered it now.”

Clear watched with interest as Aoba dug around under the bed and pulled something out. It was a long, flexible object that was essentially two dildos stuck together, one slightly smaller than the other. He then took out another dildo, which was just a normal one with a suction cup on the base.

“I know you said you don't have a problem with me only being able to bottom," he said softly, "But I also know that you'd rather punch yourself in the face than hurt my feelings."

"Really, Aoba, I don't have a problem with it!”

Aoba ignored him. "You don't have to say yes right now, but I thought maybe, in the future, we could use one of these, if you ever wanted to...do that."

"I suppose we can use them now," Clear said, not looking at Aoba. "If you want."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah."

Aoba took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Which one?"

Clear hummed. "It's still early. We have time to use both of them, right?"

Aoba nodded. "We can use both of them."

He stepped forward and kissed Clear hotly as they helped each other out of their clothes. He then lay down in the middle of the bed with Clear hovering over top of him. With slightly shaking hands, he squeezed some lube out onto Clear's fingers, then took some for himself. They maintained eye contact as they slowly inserted one finger into each other, both making a soft sound at the feeling. Clear leaned down and kissed Aoba as they worked each other open, heatedly making out as they moved from one finger to two, then three. Clear eventually added a fourth, but Aoba knew that three would be enough for Clear.

"Oh my God, Aoba..." Clear mumbled against his jaw, voice slurred with pleasure. Aoba could only moan in reply. It wasn't often that he found himself knuckle-deep in Clear, but when he did, it was incredible. The sounds Clear made were heavenly, and the way he scrunched his face up was adorable.

After they were sure they were loosened up enough, Aoba reached for the double-ended toy, holding it in his hands as he contemplated it.

"What is it?" Clear asked.

"I was going to ask you what side you wanted, but since I've gotten so used to your magnum dong, I call the bigger one. I hope that's okay with you."

Giggling at Aoba's choice of words, Clear said it was fine.

They tried to figure out how to position themselves. Aoba suggested they face away from each other, but Clear vetoed that because they wouldn't have much control over it (and also because they wouldn't be able to see each other). They eventually agreed to have Aoba on his back, like he normally would be, with Clear facing him in a kind of crab-walk position, holding himself up with one arm and holding the toy steady with the other. After some careful positioning of their legs, Clear pushed the thicker side of the dildo into Aoba, then slid himself onto the other end.

Aoba didn't need a long time to adjust, but he figured Clear would, so he waited patiently. He wasn't really complaining, though; he got to take in the sight of Clear in front of him, breathing heavily with his legs spread open, cock swollen and dripping against his abdomen.

"Are you alright if I move?"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead."

Clear pulled back until the toy was about three-quarters of the way out of both of them before thrusting it back in. Aoba felt kind of bad as he sat there, watching Clear support his entire body weight on three of his limbs while having to carefully calculate his movements. But it was also really hot to see Clear's body as he moved, knowing both of them were feeling (almost) the exact same thing.

But Clear stopped, suddenly, with a puzzled look on his face. "There's a button on this."

"There is?" Aoba didn't remember seeing that. "Press it!"

"Are you sure? What if it does something bad?"

"Do it!"

Clear pressed the button and, almost instantaneously, they both threw their heads back and moaned at the same time. Aoba had no idea it vibrated!

"Oh my God," Aoba choked out. "Oh my fucking God."

Clear was nearly growling as he started moving again with ferocity, watching how Aoba writhed and gasped underneath him.

"Clear, fuck...it feels so good..."

"I feel it too," Clear panted, speeding up his movements.

Aoba knew he was going to be able to come from the penetration alone, but he wasn't so sure about Clear, so he sat up halfway and reached forward so he could stroke his cock for him. It was a little awkward due to the constant thrusting of Clear's hips, but Aoba managed to make it work.

"Oh my God, A-Aoba..."

"Clear, I'm... _fuck,_ I'm gonna..."

Clear pushed it into them as far as it could go and held his hips against Aoba's, supporting himself on both arms as he grinded his hips in little circles. Aoba tugged roughly at Clear's cock as the dildo buzzed inside both of them, bringing them to the edge.

Usually, Clear was buried deep inside of him when they had sex, which meant it wasn't often that Aoba got to really watch Clear climax; actually see the way his cock pulsed as his come gushed out. So, when Clear finally did, Aoba was so enraptured by the sight of him arching his body up and crying out at the ceiling that he came, too, rocking his hips and whimpering as the vibrations intensified his orgasm.

After a considerable amount of time, Clear took the toy out and tossed it on the bed. He then flopped on his back, exhausted.

Aoba sat up so he could look at him while he spoke. "What did you think of that?"

"It was fantastic," Clear grinned. "But it was really tiring."

Aoba chuckled, crawling towards Clear until he was settled on top of him, arms circling around his shoulders. "I'll do all the work next time."

He sighed contentedly as Clear slid his arms around his waist and kissed him slowly. Clear's hands travelled lower as their kiss deepened, and soon he was kneading Aoba's ass cheeks as Aoba grinded his hips down against him, rubbing their cocks together. After a short amount of time, they were both hard again, panting against each other's lips and rutting together with enthusiasm.

"That toy was nice," Aoba murmured, "but it was nothing compared to what you've got."

After some repositioning, the dildo was suction-cupped to the headboard and Clear was on his hands and knees, poised to move his hips back on it. Aoba was in the same position, though he was under Clear.

"Go back first," Aoba instructed him. "Then I'll go back once it's inside of you."

He looked over his shoulder to watch Clear push back on the toy. His eyes were closed in concentration, but his mouth hung open. He looked really lewd, moaning and grinding back against the headboard as he adjusted to the intrusion. Then he opened his eyes.

"I'm ready, Aoba!" he sang.

Aoba backed up, taking his cock in until his ass was pressing against Clear's pubic bone. The toy they had both used was a pleasant change, but nothing could beat the familiar warmth of Clear inside of him.

It took a few thrusts to get the rhythm right, but Clear eventually got into it; he drove his hips all the way into Aoba, then back onto the dildo, then into Aoba again.

"Does it feel good?" Aoba asked, bouncing his ass back against Clear enticingly.

"It really does," Clear said, voice tight. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before."

Clear's hands crept towards Aoba’s chest, and Aoba thought he was just going in to play with his nipples (which Clear liked to do), but then Clear pulled him up so they were both almost fully elevated on their knees, Aoba’s back against Clear’s front. To keep his balance, Aoba reached behind him to hold onto Clear's hips.

"Is this position alright with you?" Clear asked, voice raw with lust. He kissed at Aoba's neck while he waited for a response.

"Yeah, it's good," Aoba breathed. In all honesty, it was better than good; it was breathtaking, it was incredible, but he was too shy to rave about it. He could feel the passion and desire and love stewing between them, coursing through his veins, overwhelming him.

"I'm going to come, Aoba," Clear panted in his ear. "Are you getting there, too?"

"It's okay if you do it first."

With only a high moan muffled into Aoba's shoulder as a warning, Clear squeezed Aoba tightly around his waist and came, pulsing wetly inside of him as his body wracked with tremors. He slid off the dildo, though he kept thrusting into Aoba even after he was finished, now with the addition of his hand on Aoba's cock.

"Clear," Aoba keened, "I... I'm..."

Clear kissed him sweetly on the cheek. "Go ahead."

Aoba cried out a string of words that didn't make any sense as the warmth in his hips spread to the rest of his body all at once and he twitched, clamping down on Clear's softening cock, ejaculating on the bedspread beneath them. Clear rubbed him through it, murmuring in his ear all the while.

"Oh my God," Aoba groaned, slumping forward to support himself on his hands. He looked over his shoulder at Clear and grinned. The blanket was already dirty, so Aoba was in no hurry to clean himself up. He didn't want to end this moment with Clear just yet.

He gathered the toys and threw them on the floor after wiping them off with a tissue, vowing to clean them properly tomorrow. Clear then pulled him into his lap, squeezing him tightly and kissing him all over his face.

"Was that as good as it would have been if I could...?"

"Aoba," Clear chided. "Any kind of sex with you is perfect. I'm satisfied just being able to be with you like this."

"What about that time I sucked your dick when I was getting over the stomach flu, and I almost threw up on you?"

Clear cringed. "Okay, maybe not _everything,_ but...I meant it when I said that I don't have a problem with your limitation. I love topping you. Even if you could do it the other way, I would still want to top most of the time." He paused to kiss Aoba on the cheek. "That being said, I appreciate that you found a way for us both to do it. I really liked that."

Aoba yawned. "If we ever use the double-sided one again, though, we need to read the manual first. Maybe it has different speeds and stuff."

Clear rubbed his hand up and down Aoba's side, humming softly in his ear. He always made sure to help Aoba relax after they had sex, even if they didn't do anything strenuous. Aoba thought it was sweet.

His mind wandered, though, as he drifted closer and closer to sleep, and he recalled something Clear had said earlier. "Hey."

Clear stopped singing. "Yes, Aoba?"

"You said you liked having sex on camera, right?"

"Um. I...suppose I did say that, yes. Why?"

"We should record ourselves sometime. I wouldn't mind doing it if it was just for us to see."

"Really? You would do that for me?"

"Yeah. I know you're into some pretty weird stuff, but I don't mind doing it with you. Besides, it's kinda fun to try something new every once in a while." He glanced at Clear and added, “As long as you don’t tell anyone.”

“I would never disrespect our privacy like that, Aoba!”

“You’ve never talked about our sex life with other people?”

“Absolutely not! What we do in bed is just between the two of us."

Aoba smiled, taking Clear's face into his hands. "Good."

*     *     *

"So," Noiz said when the four of them got together at a bar the next evening, "Did you watch the video I sent you?"

"Yes," Aoba grumbled. "But don't talk about it! It makes Clear embarrassed."

Clear smiled politely. "I don't mind. You two saw it already, right?"

"As soon as we knew it was you, we turned it off," Koujaku assured.

"Not before we saw your massive dick, though," Noiz said with a snorting laugh. "How do you deal with that, Aoba?"

Clear and Aoba both hid their burning faces at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter surprised me lmfao


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clear faces a problem, and Aoba comes up with a solution.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> L M A O this chapter is so corny, proceed with caution

Summer passed more quickly than either of them wanted it to. Clear was nervous, Aoba could tell, about returning to school in the fall. He didn't talk much about it when anyone brought it up. If he had really been excited, it would have been impossible to get him to shut up about it, so Aoba knew he wasn't.

Just because Clear wasn't excited didn't mean Aoba couldn't be, though! He counted down the days until classes started, gleefully anticipating the day when he would walk Clear to school with pride.

When that day came, Aoba was the one to wake Clear up in the morning. He shook him so hard that he almost pushed him right out of bed!

"I'm awake," Clear grumbled, shrugging Aoba's arms off of him.

"It's your first day of school!" Aoba cheered, patting Clear on the head. "Isn't this exciting?"

Clear glowered (which was a strange look for him). "I'm a grown man, Aoba."

Aoba chuckled. "I know, I know! But it's still exciting, right? I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends."

"You think so?"

"Yeah! You're so friendly to everyone you meet, and you're cute as a button!" He pinched Clear's cheek. "How could people not like you?"

As Aoba grinned at Clear (who was frowning at him with a scathing look in his eyes), he realized that, in that moment, they had almost swapped personalities. Was that what happened to people when they spent that much time together? Aoba had a brief vision of himself prancing around and humming with a blinding smile on his face and he shuddered. As much as he loved Clear, he didn't want to _be_ Clear.

A moment later, though, Clear grinned back and squeezed Aoba in a bear hug, and they returned to normal.

Aoba nuzzled with Clear for a minute, but he knew if they didn’t get out of bed soon, they might be late. “Alright, snuggle bug,” he said with a laugh, “We need to get up.”

Reluctantly, they left the warmth of their bed to get ready for the day. Aoba took the first clothes he found on the floor and put them on while Clear sifted through his side of the closet.

"What should I wear, Aoba?"

Aoba shrugged. "It doesn't matter if you look good, right? You already have me."

Clear frowned. "Shouldn't I still be concerned with my appearance?"

"Well, _yeah,_ but you don't need to worry as much. You're in a relationship, so you don't need to try anymore."

"Is that why you've started wearing sweatpants when we go out?"

"Exactly!"

Aoba's first class started half an hour after Clear's, but they walked together anyway.

"This is kinda weird," Aoba mused. "When I walked to school before, you were singing on the sidewalk, but now you're actually walking with me!"

Clear smiled. "You know, if you had never stopped to put a donation in my umbrella, we probably wouldn't be together right now."

Aoba pouted. "Don't say things like that. I don't want to think about what my life would be like without you in it."

"Aww, Aoba, you're so romantic!"

"I'm being serious."

Clear's smile widened. "So am I!"

When they had to go their separate ways, Aoba tried to keep his distance so Clear couldn't kiss him. After all, Aoba went here, too, and he didn't want any of his classmates to see them kissing. It wasn't that he was embarrassed of Clear (he was long past that); he was just embarrassed to be affectionate in public.

He saw a trace of hurt in Clear's eyes, though, and he didn't want him to think the wrong thing, so he quickly pecked him on the lips before saying goodbye and heading to his own class.

"See you later, Aoba!" Clear called after him. "I looove you!"

Aoba pulled his jacket as far over his burning face as he could and walked faster.

*     *     *

Clear had stopped working for the time being, and his classes were over an hour before Aoba's, so he was there waiting for Aoba when he got home.

"Welcome back!" He chirped, taking Aoba's jacket for him and hanging it up in the closet.

"Thanks. How was your day?"

Clear shrugged and looked at the closet door instead of Aoba. "It was alright."

"Did something bad happen?"

Clear squirmed a little bit. "Um...there was a girl in one of my classes that I was sitting next to, and I wanted to be friendly so I talked with her for a few minutes, but she must have thought that I was flirting, because she gave me her phone number." He swallowed nervously. "I thought she was just being nice at first, but she texted me an hour ago and asked me to go out with her."

"Really? You talked to her for a couple of minutes and she's already into you?" Aoba cackled. "I'll have to step my game up if I wanna keep my reins on you! Someone's gonna snatch you right out from under me."

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make her feel that way." Clear kneaded his hands together. "What should I do?"

"Tell her you have someone already."

"I did, but I hate having to hurt people's feelings! She was really nice and she didn't mean anything negative by it. I don’t mean to sound conceited, but...how do I stop so many people from instantly falling in love with me?”

Aoba put his finger to his chin and hummed. “Maybe you should try to ugly yourself up?”

“Do you think that would work?”

Aoba shrugged. “It’s worth a shot, right?”

“What should I do?”

“You could wear a bulkier shirt to hide your body. And you need glasses, but you just don’t wear them, right?”

“Do you think I should wear my old ones?”

Aoba cringed. Clear’s old glasses, which he had found while he was packing to move in with Aoba, were atrocious. The lenses were very thick, and they made his eyes look bigger than they actually were. The frames looked like they were from the seventies; they were a caramel brown colour, and they were _huge._ Aoba figured they had previously belonged to Clear’s grandfather, and he had put new lenses in them to save some money. Clear was a handsome man, but even _he_ couldn’t pull those off.

“I think you should wear them.”

So, the next morning, Clear put his glasses on, along with the ugliest thick-knit sweater Aoba had ever seen. Aoba could still vaguely see the shape of his muscles, but he figured that was probably because he knew Clear’s body so well.

“How do I look?” He asked, spinning in a circle.

“I still think you’re cute,” Aoba said, “But nobody else will.”

Clear grinned. “Great!”

*     *     *

When Aoba came home the next afternoon, Clear looked downtrodden again.

“Did people treat you differently?” Aoba asked, figuring his classmates might have been mean to him based on his appearance.

“No! I got three more phone numbers,” Clear whined. “It’s impossible for me to turn off my charm!”

Resisting the urge to whack him across the face, Aoba said, “Don’t give up yet! I’m sure we can make you look gross.”

“What can we do?”

Aoba tried to think of something that would make Clear repulsive enough that everyone would leave him alone.  
“I can contour your face!”

“Contour my face?”

“Yeah! People do it to look better, so I’m sure we could do it to make you look worse! I’ll practice on you right now.”

Aoba fetched his contouring palette and sat beside Clear on the couch. He took his glasses off and set them on the coffee table in a potentially hazardous position (half-hoping they would break so he could buy him a new pair). He highlighted and shaded Clear’s face in a way that would be really unflattering, but still believable. After fifteen minutes of hard work, he backed up to appraise him.

“How is it?” Clear asked.

“God damn it!” Aoba groaned, chucking the makeup brush on the floor. “You’re still hot!” He huffed and started to remove the makeup from his face.

“I knew it!" Clear wailed as Aoba wiped his face with a cosmetic sponge. "I’ll never be unattractive!”

Aoba sighed. “Maybe we should try a different method.”

“Like what?”

“Making you look ugly is obviously never gonna happen, so why don’t you pretend that you’re married? I’m sure I could find a ring around here somewhere. And if anyone asks you why you weren’t wearing it before, just tell them you were getting it cleaned or something.”

“That’s a good idea!” He leaned in and kissed Aoba on the cheek. “You’re so smart, Aoba!”

Aoba laughed sheepishly. “I don’t know about that…”

“But if we really want people to believe it, you should wear a ring, too.”

“Me? Why?”

“I have to be married to _someone,_ right? And if people see us out together, they might think I’m cheating on my spouse.”

Clear had a point, so Aoba agreed to do it. They dug around in Aoba’s old stuff at the back of his closet and eventually found a jewellery box. They emptied it out on the bed and sat on either side of the pile. Clear sifted through it and found two plain gold bands, then a third ring with an enormous, gaudy fake diamond.

“Can you stand up for me, Aoba?”

“Why?”

“You’ll see!”

Aoba sighed and stood up. Clear slid off the bed, too, but he dropped to one knee.

“What are you doing?!” Aoba squawked.

“If we’re going to pretend to be married, we should pretend to get engaged, right?”

“Fine.”

Clear kissed the back of Aoba’s hand and continued. “I love you more than anything, Aoba. Every morning I wake up happier than the day before because I’m waking up next to you. It feels like we’re two halves of a whole, and I couldn’t stand for us to be apart." He paused for dramatic effect. "Will you pretend-marry me?”

Aoba blushed. He could tell that Clear was being completely honest, even though it wasn’t a real proposal. “Yes, I’ll pretend-marry you.”

"Wait one second!" Clear said, scurrying out of the room. He returned with Ren in one arm and Puddles in the other. "We need witnesses."

Aoba laughed. "I'm not sure they count, Clear."

Clear put Puddles on the bed, then held Ren up in front of his face so he could pretend he was speaking. "Aoba," Clear said in a silly voice, "Do you take Clear to be your unlawfully wedded husband?"

“I don’t think Ren would sound like that if he could talk!”

“Answer the question!” Clear ordered in the same high-pitched voice.

"I do."

Clear handed Ren to Aoba. He held Ren up like Clear had done and said, in a much lower voice, "Do you take Aoba to be _your_ unlawfully wedded husband, Clear?"

"Yes! Of course I do."

"By the power vested in me," Aoba said for Ren, "I declare you husband and husband."

"Thank you for your help, Ren."

Ren yipped once in reply.

Clear hummed the wedding march as he slipped the two rings on Aoba’s finger, then put one on himself.

“Great! We’re married!”

“That was fast.”

Clear bent Aoba backwards and kissed him with passion. “Now it’s time to consummate it!”

Aoba giggled as Clear tackled him onto the mattress. Ren and Puddles scampered off the bed as it shook with the force of Aoba and Clear rolling on it.

Clear had probably been joking about the consummation, but then he crawled towards Aoba like a panther stalking his prey and the mood changed.

"I can't believe I still wanna fuck you while you're wearing that sweater," Aoba remarked as he felt up Clear's arms through the wooly fabric.

"I told you," Clear teased. "I'm irresistible no matter what."

Clear was insecure about a lot of things, Aoba knew, but he certainly didn't seem shy about his looks. It was refreshing to see Clear full of confidence for once.

"Can you take your clothes off slowly this time?" Aoba requested in a small voice. "You always do it so fast that I barely get a chance to see you."

"Of course!" Clear smiled. He crossed his arms over his torso and took the hem of his sweater in his hands. He slowly peeled it up and over his head, revealing his body to Aoba's hungry eyes. He took his belt off, next, even going so far as to pull it all the way out of the loops on his pants. Then he undid his jeans, sliding them over his hips and down his lean legs, leaving him in just the grey boxer briefs Aoba bought for him. Aoba reached forward and pulled them down for him, breath hitching slightly when his half-hard cock sprang up. Clear took them all the way off and looked at Aoba with expectation in his eyes.

"I guess it's my turn, right?" Aoba quipped.

Clear nodded.

Aoba sighed and tugged his clothes off without much finesse. When he was done, he raised an eyebrow at Clear and said, "Well, come on, then. Get on me."

Clear giggled and pounced on him, kissing him all over his neck like an excited dog. Aoba felt arousal burn low in his stomach as Clear kissed down to his chest, then to his middle, ultimately settling between his legs. He mouthed at Aoba's dick and ate him out all at once, sliding his open mouth over the entire area and fingering him until Aoba was totally overstimulated.

After Clear backed away, Aoba changed their positioning so he could return the favor (minus the ass eating--even Aoba had his limits). He practically worshipped Clear's body as he moved down on him, tenderly kissing each part of him and complimenting him as he did. Clear didn't really _need_ the praise Aoba was giving him, but Aoba could tell that he liked it.

"You're so big," Aoba cooed in between licks to Clear's cock, "And I love the way you taste." To punctuate that, he took Clear in as much as he could, relaxing his throat around him. Clear quivered and moaned beneath him, overwhelmed by the feeling.

Aoba sucked him off for a while, but he pulled back when he felt Clear get close to the edge and crawled back up to lay beside him. Clear kissed him, and they tasted themselves on each other's tongues.

"You know what?" Aoba said coyly.

"What?"

He took Clear into his hand and stroked him gently. "Nobody else has ever made me feel as good as you do."

Clear blushed. "Really?"

"Yeah," Aoba purred, still jerking him off. "You really know how to use this."

"You're not too bad, either," Clear murmured, sneaking his hand around to finger Aoba again.

They both had every intention of having intercourse, but they were content with just using their hands for the time being. Their faces drifted closer and they kissed, moaning softly and sighing against each other’s lips as their brains turned foggy from all the affection.

After a while, though, Aoba's arm got tired, so he started flopping Clear's dick around between his palms.

Clear laughed. "What are you doing?"

“I don’t know, but it’s fun! Try it!” Aoba moved Clear's dick like a joystick and made little laser sounds.

Clear did the same to Aoba. "Pew pew pew!"

They kept making sound effects as if they were playing a video game with their penises as the controllers. It took a few minutes for them to realize how ridiculous they were acting, and once it hit them, they laughed until they were in tears.

"Maybe we should get on with it," Aoba suggested, still laughing. He lubed Clear up a little bit more and straddled his lap. "Do you mind if we do it like this?"

"Not at all."

Aoba slowly sat on Clear's cock until he was seated in his lap. Once he was adjusted, Clear started to move his hips up to meet him, and they moved in unison like a majestic sex machine.

For whatever reason, neither one of them could hold back their giggles. It wasn't nervous laughter--they stopped being nervous with each other a long time ago--but whenever one of them calmed down, the other would start up again, and they couldn't stop it. They both just felt really light inside, and they couldn't help but express it.

"You make me really happy, Aoba," Clear murmured with a warm fondness in his eyes.

Aoba could feel his face lighting up, but he didn't try to stop it. "You make me happy, too."

They kept at a slow pace, caressing each other's skin and whispering sweet nothings all the while. All Aoba could think of was how much he loved the man beneath him, and that nothing could ever change that. As he looked into Clear's eyes, he could see that those feelings were reciprocated, and it filled him with so much glee that he didn't know what to do with it.

They clung to each other desperately as they approached climax; Aoba gripped Clear's shoulders while Clear squeezed him around the waist. Aoba hunched over so he could kiss Clear, and they came simultaneously with their open mouths pressed together. They grinded their hips together to ride it out as long as they could, holding on to one another tightly. When it was over, they let out a satisfied sigh and relaxed.

"That was nice," Aoba mumbled in a haze.

Clear cradled Aoba's face in his hands, rubbing their noses together gently. "I love you so much, Aoba."

"I love you, too."

Aoba stayed where he was until Clear had softened enough to slip out of him. He had recently started to like keeping Clear inside as long as possible, even after climax. Being with Clear had made him appreciate the emotional connection associated with sex more than just the physical pleasure, so he liked to savour the intimacy.

Once he had the strength, though, he rolled over so Clear could spoon him. They usually alternated between who was the big spoon and who was the little spoon, but Aoba secretly liked it when Clear was the one holding him.

"If we ever get married for real," Clear mused as he took Aoba into his arms, "Would we keep our own names? How would that work?"

Aoba frowned. They both knew, obviously, that they wouldn't be able to get married _for real_. They could pull some strings and have the ceremony in a country where it was legal, or they could have a symbolic wedding here in Japan, but either way it wouldn't be a genuine marriage.

Aoba wasn't really sure that he wanted to have a wedding, anyway. It wasn't that he had any qualms about committing himself to Clear; Aoba loved Clear, more than he would ever admit out loud, but he was unsure about whether he wanted to display it so publicly. Something quiet in him felt that that sort of thing should stay between the two of them, where it belonged. They already knew they were devoted to each other, and a wedding wouldn't have any real legal significance, so what would be the point?

Instead of bringing all of that up, though, he decided to humour the idea. "I think you should take my name. After all, I wear the pants in this relationship, right?"

Clear genuinely laughed. "How so?"

Aoba thought for a moment. "You had to get my permission before you got Puddles!"

"I was just being courteous!"

"Just admit it! I call the shots around here."

"I'll remind you of that the next time you're begging for my--"

Aoba pinched Clear's lips together. _"Outside_ of the bedroom."

Clear chuckled through his nose (since his mouth was sealed shut) and nodded. He hummed a sound that sounded like an agreement.

*     *     *

Aoba and Clear had a break between classes that overlapped, so they met up to get coffee together. When Clear took Aoba’s hand into his own from across the table, he spun the rings on his finger with his thumb and smiled. Aoba smiled back, but then he remembered the purpose of the whole fake marriage thing and he decided to ask about it.

"Did anyone notice the ring?"

Clear grinned. "Yes! And they asked me about my spouse, so I told them it was you."

"What did they say to that?"

"They said we made a cute couple."

Aoba smiled and brought his cup to his mouth, taking a sip and swallowing. "They're not wrong."

"Did anyone say anything to you?"

"Koujaku and Noiz accused me of trying to steal their thunder, but I explained it to them and they thought it was funny." He looked at the ring on his finger and sighed. "I know this is the ring you... _proposed_ with, but do you mind if I wear a different one? This one is just so tacky."

Clear pouted. "It would really mean a lot to me if you wore it. I picked it for a reason!"

Aoba rolled his eyes. "We're not really married, Clear! It doesn't mean anything!"

"That hurts, Aoba." Clear had a (probably fake) pained expression on his face.

"Fine! If it makes you happy, I'll wear the fugly thing."

Clear smiled again. "Thank you very much! It does make me happy."

The ring on his finger was truly the worst thing Aoba had ever worn (and his mother had put him in some pretty awful outfits as a child), but Clear was looking at him with so much love in his eyes that Aoba felt a little bit sick, so he resigned himself to wearing it. If it was for Clear, it wouldn't be so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhHHAHA ahahaha ha. anyway one more chapter unless i add another one b/c my life is out of control and i have no organizational skills lmao
> 
> also i considered making clear insecure about his face and stuff like he is in canon but. if his grandfather had never taught him to be ashamed of his face, would he ever have been that way? i didn't think so lmao so i wrote him like this


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of stuff happens!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there was supposed to be one more chapter but now there's two because clear and aoba are incapable of shutting the fuck up!! lmao i had to split the last chapter in half so.....the second half will be Coming Soon
> 
> also major cheeseball warning for both this chapter and the next one. and if you were wondering there are a few timeskips lmao

After finishing his final two years of school, Clear was finally graduating! Aoba had graduated the year before (and Clear had whooped embarrassingly loud for him when his name was called), so it wasn't like Clear didn't know what to expect. Unsurprisingly, though, he was anxious.

"What if I fall off the stage?"

Aoba chuckled as he knotted Clear's tie. "You're not gonna fall off the stage."

"But what if I do?"

"Then I'll run out of my seat and catch you."

"No, you won't!"

"You're right! I won't, because you're not gonna fall." He slid the knot up to Clear's throat. "Is that too tight?"

"It's fine, thank you." He smoothed the backs of his fingers down Aoba's tie, though it served no purpose.

“What’s on your mind?” Aoba asked, noticing the wistful look in Clear’s eyes.

"When Grandfather was dying, he told me that he wanted me to graduate college. He made me promise that I would, no matter what. He said it was because he wanted me to have a better life than the one he gave me."

"He would be very proud of you. And I'm sure your parents would be, too."

Clear smiled and his eyes turned wet. "Really?"

"Yeah. And, uh...so am I."

Clear laughed, tears falling as he did. "You're proud of me?"

"Yeah, why? Is that a bad thing?"

"Absolutely not!" He sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Don't cry! Your face will be all puffy later!"

"But they're happy tears, Aoba!"

"You'll still be puffy!"

Clear leaned his face down to press his forehead against Aoba's. Their bangs smushed together and Aoba was a little bit annoyed that he would probably have to fix his hair, but he let it go, especially once Clear said, "I don't care if I look puffy. You've made me happier than I've ever been, and I don't want to keep that contained."

Aoba softly kissed the moles on Clear's chin. "I don't want you to keep it contained, either, but I also don't want your eyes to be swollen in all of our pictures."

Aoba's parents wanted to be there, too, so they picked Aoba and Clear up and they went together. Clear felt a little weird about having them there, but Aoba assured him he had nothing to worry about. After all, they had been the ones to fund his education, right? Of course they would want to be there.

When they had to split up, Aoba to go sit with his parents and Clear to sit with the other graduates, Clear gave him a hug so extravagant it made him blush.

Clear texted him throughout the boring part of the ceremony where all the old people gave speeches. Aoba got a few disapproving looks from his father, but that didn't stop him from replying to Clear. He put his phone away when it was time for the students to get their degrees, figuring he owed them a little respect.

Aoba grinned when Clear's name was finally called. Though the audience was instructed to stay quiet until everyone had went through, he popped up from his seat and cheered as loud as he could so Clear would hear him.

"Yeah! Woo hoo! Way to go, baby!" Aoba cried at the top of his lungs, clapping and stomping his feet. He could see Clear grinning as he walked across the stage.

"Shh!” An elderly woman behind him hissed. "It's disrespectful to be so loud!"

Aoba scrunched his face up in annoyance but sat down. His mother snickered beside him.

"Don't worry about her," she said to him. "I'm sure it meant a lot to Clear for you to do that."

As soon as the ceremony was over, Aoba bolted out his seat and went in the general direction the graduates had gone. He texted Clear and asked him where he was, but he found him talking to a group of people before he got a reply. He snuck up behind him and covered his eyes with his hands.

“Guess whooo?” He asked playfully.

Clear laughed and took Aoba’s wrists, gently pulling them away. “Hey there!”

There were a million people in the narrow hallway they were standing in, but Aoba didn’t care; he pulled Clear down and kissed him a little bit inappropriately. He was so proud of Clear, so proud to be the one kissing him, that he wasn’t even embarrassed when his parents found them and walked over.

“We're proud of you, son,” Aoba’s father said, and Aoba thought he was talking to him, but he turned and saw that he was looking at Clear.

Clear beamed and pulled Naine in for a very warm hug. Naine wasn’t the type for warm hugs, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“Thank you so much,” Clear said into his shoulder, and judging by the tremor in his voice Aoba figured he was crying. “For everything. Thank you so much.”

Aoba took a picture while his father went on about how it was the least they could do, seeing how happy he made Aoba. He took a few more before Clear let Naine out of his suffocating hold.

Clear then looked at all of them in turn with the most blindingly sunny smile possible on his face, and Aoba got a little tearful when he realized that he had a part to play in bringing him that joy. It must have meant a lot to Clear, having a family that cared about him, especially when he went most of his life without one.

"Aww, Aoba," Clear cooed when he noticed Aoba's tears spilling over.

"You're the one that's making me all emotional like this," Aoba grumbled, wiping his own tears away.

Clear slid his hands under Aoba's and dried his tears for him instead. "If you cry, your eyes will be puffy."

Aoba laughed. "Shut up."

He looked at Clear and held his gaze for a few seconds. Clear leaned down as Aoba tilted his head up, and they had come remarkably close to kissing when Naine cleared his throat. Admittedly, Aoba had sort of forgotten that his parents were there.

The two of them jerked apart, hands awkwardly suspended in the air in front of them for a few seconds. Clear then folded his arms around himself while Aoba adjusted his own ponytail.

"I'm sorry!" Clear apologized to Aoba’s parents, bowing deeply. "I wasn't thinking clearly."

"It's quite alright." Haruka smiled.

“You know, Clear,” Naine said, “There’s something I should really talk to you about.” He took the mildly terrified-looking Clear by the elbow and steered him away, disappearing into the crowd.

Later that evening, after a congratulatory blowjob, Aoba asked Clear what Naine had said to him.

Clear shrugged, hands still tangled in Aoba’s hair. “Nothing much, really. He was just talking about jobs and things like that. He said he could help me find a job in another city, if I wanted.”

Aoba frowned. While he didn’t necessarily think that he and Clear were going to stay in one spot for the rest of their lives, moving hadn’t really occurred to him.

He didn't think it was worth talking about, though, especially when he didn't really have anything specific to stress over, so he just dove in for another round of fellatio (even though Clear assured him that once had been more than enough).

*     *     *

Clear had found a job in Tokyo (a good job) so they agreed it was best to move there. Aoba's father had really talked him up, so he was now a very sought-after session musician. Not only that, he had gigs lined up for the next few months. Clear would be making a lot more money, so they sought out a bigger apartment.

"It has two bedrooms," Aoba noted when they looked at one online. "Why do we need two?"

Clear shrugged. "What if we have guests? Or...maybe...a kid? Someday?"

"What if we have guests _and_ a kid? Let's look for one with three."

Aoba and Clear's once-tidy apartment was full of boxes while they prepared to move. The one place Aoba had yet to go through, however, was the depths of his closet, where all of the most embarrassing secrets of his past lurked. He was pretty sure there were some fingerless gloves in there, so he _really_ didn't want Clear to be present when he ventured in.

Too bad that Clear had already started sifting through it while Aoba was out!

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Aoba shrieked, shoving Clear away from the bin of old clothes he was looking at. "That's my stuff! I don't touch your stuff when you're not home!"

"I was just trying to help," Clear offered meekly. "You usually have a difficult time getting started on things, so I thought if I started it for you, you would find it easier to do it."

Aoba had to admit that it would be nice to have some help... He sighed. "Fine. You can help me do it now. But don't laugh at anything you find, okay?"

Clear drew a cross over his heart. "I promise!"

Most of the stuff was embarrassing, but, true to his word, Clear didn't make any snide comments (not that he would have, anyway). He did speak up, though, when he found a particular bundle of clothes inside an old backpack

"Um. Aoba."

"Yeah?"

"Do you, um...have you ever...worn these?"

Aoba turned his head slowly, bracing himself for whatever Clear was talking about. It took a moment to recognize what was in Clear's hand: a pair of white thigh-high socks and the shortest pleated skirt ever sewn by human hands. His face heated up as memories flooded back of the particular ex-boyfriend who had a schoolgirl kink.

"Yeah, so what? You promised not to make fun of me!"

"I'm not making fun of you," Clear said seriously. "I was just wondering--"

"I'm not putting them on."

"I didn't ask you to!"

"You were gonna!"

Clear pinched the bridge of his nose. "I was going to ask if you wanted to keep them or not."

"I'm never gonna wear them, right? So why would I wanna keep them?"

"I was just making sure."

"Alright!"

"Alright, Aoba."

Aoba lasted twenty-five seconds before he snatched the stupid fucking things from the giveaway pile and stomped to the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Clear asked with a barely-perceptible smirk.

"Like you don't fucking know."

Aoba stared at himself in the mirror, feeling like he could hear his ancestors' disappointed grumbling. The skirt was truly short; it covered maybe two-thirds of his ass. His sweater nearly covered the length of it, so he tucked it into the waistband. One of the socks had a hole in it, but otherwise they were fine. He half-wished he was wearing panties to complete the look, but he knew Clear would be more than satisfied with this. Before he left the washroom, he swallowed his pride and tied his hair up into high pigtails.

"Sensei," he said once he returned to the bedroom, leaning against the doorframe and twirling his hair with his finger, "I didn't understand today's lesson. I think I need you to keep me after class to explain it."

Clear stood there, staring wide-eyed at him, not saying a word. Eventually, he blinked and said in a strangled voice, "You look really cute with pigtails."

"You think so? What about this?" Aoba asked, dragging his finger along the hem of his skirt.

Clear crossed the room to where Aoba stood. He took Aoba's hand and placed it on the bulge in his pants, purring, "This is how I feel about that."

"That was really fucking smooth."

"I know! I almost never think of things like that at the right time."

Aoba applied more pressure to Clear's groin, eliciting a weak moan from the back of his throat. In return, Clear gripped Aoba's ass with both hands, squeezing it rhythmically. He slid Aoba's underwear down his legs and rubbed at his entrance with his fingertips.

Though Aoba had bought the schoolgirl clothes to wear for his pervy ex-boyfriend, he hadn't actually had sex with him in them, so..this was a first.

After clearing away the clutter from their bed, Aoba found himself riding Clear's dick in nothing but his skirt and thigh-highs. The skirt was so tiny that his cock pushed it up so that it bunched against his abdomen, and Aoba was sure that Clear appreciated the sight.

"You look so cute, Aoba..." Clear sighed, reaching up to stroke one of Aoba's pigtails.

Before he met Clear, Aoba wouldn't have dreamed of doing something so embarrassing, but...it was just between him and Clear, right? Nobody else would ever know about it, so he didn't mind being a little shameful every once in a while.

He leaned forward, supporting his weight with his palms on Clear's chest so he could move his hips more freely. Leaning forward like this also meant that it was easier to kiss him, so he did. Clear met his kiss, pulling on his pigtails to bring him closer.

"I like these," Clear mumbled, giving them a sharp tug for emphasis.

"Do that again," Aoba gasped.

"Do what?"

Aoba narrowed his eyes. "What you just did!"

"You mean this?" Clear asked with innocent eyes, pulling Aoba's hair again. Aoba moaned as Clear pulled them over and over and over again until the elastics were halfway out and his pigtails were lopsided.

"Don't stop...!"

"You're so dirty, Aoba," Clear teased, smiling.

"S-Shut up!" Aoba snapped. He _felt_ dirty, riding Clear in such a lewd outfit, begging him to pull his hair, but...he didn't really care. He knew Clear would never judge him, so he had learned to let go of his inhibitions when they were alone together.

Clear took the elastics out of Aoba's hair entirely. He wound his now-loose hair around his fist and pulled hard enough to bend Aoba's head back.

"Is that good?"

Aoba cried out raggedly in reply, dragging his nails down the skin of Clear's chest.

Out of all of the wacky things that turned Clear on, his favourite was seeing Aoba absolutely fucking lose it, and Aoba was _absolutely fucking losing it._ Clear's moans started to rise in pitch and he was mumbling Aoba's name a hundred times in a row, so Aoba knew he was going to come soon. He couldn't blame him, really; Aoba knew how overwhelming it probably was for him.

Clear yanked especially hard on Aoba's hair, and the tension in his poor, abused scalp was so great that it made Aoba climax sooner than he thought he would. With a cry so loud Mink could undoubtedly hear it next door, Aoba came all over his pretty little skirt, maintaining eye contact with Clear the whole time.

Clear looked absolutely wrecked as he watched Aoba ride out his orgasm, so Aoba wasn't too surprised when Clear gripped his hips and drove his pulsing cock inside of him, choking out a sob of his name. Aoba moaned a little in the back of his throat when he felt the wetness of Clear's come filling him.

"Fuck," Aoba croaked, still gasping for air.

Clear spent a few minutes catching his breath. Once he had calmed down, he started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Aoba asked. He hadn't moved from where he was perched on Clear's lap.

"Did you do that just so we didn't have to finish going through your stuff?"

"N-No! I did it because I wanted to!"

"Really?"

"Well, maybe subconsciously, but...I don't do things I don't wanna do! Besides, you looked really hot earlier."

Clear pouted. "I don't look hot now?"

Clear did look hot, actually. His face and chest were still flushed, and his skin was glistening with sweat, and he was smiling that sleepy, fucked-out smile, and...and...and Aoba needed to take a deep breath before he got himself worked up again.

"You always look hot."

Clear grinned. "So do you, Aoba! Everything about you is perfect."

"That's a bit of an overstatement."

"It's not an overstatement! You're better than everyone else in the whole world in every way."

Aoba rolled his eyes but kept quiet. If Clear really believed that about him, what good would it do to argue?

On the last night in their apartment, they couldn't really do anything because everything was packed up. They resorted to spooning on the floor, neither of them really watching the cheesy romcom that was playing on Aoba's laptop.

"Aoba?"

"Yeah?" Aoba glanced at the back of Clear's head.

"We've been together for a while, haven't we?"

Aoba smiled to himself. "Yeah, we have."

"Have you ever thought about...um...I mean, we've almost been dating for three years, so I can't help but think about maybe...getting...married."

Aoba buried his face in the nape of Clear's neck, feeling his soft tendrils of hair against his skin. "I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I'd want to do it if it actually meant anything, but it wouldn't for us. You know?"

Clear was quiet for a second, and Aoba felt him fidget as he said, quietly, "You don't think it would mean anything?"

"Well...no, not really. It's not like we would actually be married or anything. I think we should wait until it's legal."

"But what if that doesn't happen until we're old?"

Aoba hadn't thought about it like that. He didn't want them to be old and crusty in their wedding photos! "Maybe you have a point."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. If we have a wedding while we're young, we could just get married on paper when it's legal, right?"

"Right!"

"But definitely not before Koujaku and Noiz get married! They'd never forgive us."

Clear giggled. "I'll keep that in mind!"

For several weeks, Aoba noticed Clear's behaviour becoming...stranger than usual, and not just because he was affected by the moving process. Aoba had woken up from a nap one afternoon to find Clear using a measuring tape to measure the circumference of his left ring finger.

Aoba had pulled his hand into his chest, peering at Clear dubiously. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing!" Clear had said with an innocent grin, hiding the measuring tape behind his back. "Nothing at all!"

Aoba thought that was definitely weird, but he let it go. A few days later, though, his laptop died while he was using it, so he used Clear's instead...only to discover that his search history was full of things like "cute proposal ideas" and "how not to embarrass boyfriend in public".

He supposed it was only a matter of time.

*     *     *

"There! Done." Aoba placed the jellyfish lamps on the nightstands in their new bedroom, then turned to look at Clear.

"Yay! We're completely moved in, and it only took..." He looked at his watch. "Three weeks!"

Aoba laughed. It was true that he was a bit...reluctant when it came to getting things done in an adequate amount of time, but he knew he hadn't dragged it out nearly as long as he could have. Besides, he and Clear were so busy with work (and with each other); they didn't have time to worry about frivolous things like _unpacking boxes._

Speaking of work, Aoba's new job was going fairly well. He mostly spent his time filing papers and answering the phone, but he wasn't an actual lawyer or anything so he was fine with it. He made a lot of money, considering the fact that he was more or less a receptionist.

Clear's workplace wasn't anywhere near Aoba's, though, so Aoba was surprised one afternoon to see him stepping out of the elevator into the bright, shiny office. Aoba noticed he had one arm held behind his back.

"Clear? What are you doing here?"

"Your shift is almost over, right? I finished work early, so I thought I would accompany you on your way home." He presented Aoba with a bouquet of flowers. "And I got these for you! You like daisies, right?"

Aoba blushed as he noticed his coworkers taking interest in what was going on. “Yeah, they’re my favourite. Thank you.”

It actually was time for Aoba to go home, so notified someone nearby that he was leaving.

"Come on!" Clear urged. "There's somewhere I want to take you."

Aoba went, though he was confused. He followed Clear, who was pulling him by the hand out the building and through the streets. After ten minutes of almost-running, they ended up at...a train station?

"Where are we going?" Aoba asked.

"You'll see!"

Aoba did see, after a few minutes, that they were going back to where home used to be. It was only about a forty-minute ride until they were there.

Once the train ride was over, they got on the bus. They got off at a sketchy-looking spot that Aoba vaguely recognized.

"Where are we going now?"

"We're here!"

Aoba looked around. "The...bus stop?"

"Yes! Don't you remember?"

Aoba thought for a moment. The only time he could remember that involved a bus stop was after their first real date, when they kissed for the first (and second, and third, and fourth) time.

"Is this the bus stop where we had our first kiss?"

Clear beamed. "Yes, it is! The restaurant we went to used to be right around the corner, but it got shut down for having cockroaches."

Aoba grimaced. "Ew."

"Yes, that was a bit concerning to me when I found out, too, but I suppose it can't be helped." He took the bouquet from Aoba's arms and carefully set it down on the sidewalk.

"What are you doing?"

"This is where our relationship began, kind of, right?"

"You could say that, yeah. Why?"

"Well, um...I wanted to do this somewhere meaningful to us."

"Do what?"

Clear fished around in his pocket. "You have been wearing that tacky ring for two years, Aoba," he said, laughing. "I thought it was about time that I gave you a real one."

"Oh my God." Aoba's eyes widened as Clear knelt down, holding a (surprisingly expensive-looking) ring between his thumb and forefinger.

"Three months into our relationship, I knew I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life, but I wanted to wait until the right time to ask you, and I think--"

"Yes, fuck, yes! I'll marry you."

"You didn't let me finish!” Clear whined. “I haven't even asked you yet!"

"It doesn't matter! Get up here and kiss me."

Clear hopped up and took Aoba's ugly ring off, replacing it with the new one. Aoba admired it for a moment, but then he remembered that he had something far more important in front of him.

He gently cradled Clear's face as he pulled him in closer, trying to convey how unbelievably happy he felt and how much he loved Clear in just one kiss.

Though he knew deep down that a wedding wasn't really necessary, it meant a lot for them to be able to declare their love in front of everyone dear to them. It would definitely be at least a little bit embarrassing, but as long as it wasn't a large group of people, it wouldn't bother him too much. The longer he spent with Clear, the more he realized that their time together was precious, and he didn't want to waste it deliberating whether or not it was stupid to have a symbolic wedding. He wanted to marry Clear.

When they pulled back from the kiss (almost an entire minute later), Aoba discovered that they were both crying.

Clear bumped his nose against Aoba’s, grinning. "Can I kiss you again?"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Aoba said, "You can kiss me as much as you want to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that was the last sex scene of this fic (probably)
> 
> and ik i wanted to have this done by the end of april but...the end of may isnt that much later right? lmao


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clear and Aoba decide to expand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i obviously lost steam with this but i didnt give up!! i love cleao with all my heart i s2g but life gets in the way sometimes lmao. anyway enjoy the last chapter!! warning: im lame and this chapter is lame but i had to do it

Aoba had wanted a small wedding, with only their closest family and friends invited. Clear said he wanted that, too, but then he said he wanted to invite all of his old coworkers (because they were his close friends, too!) and the homeless people from the street he used to sing on, and all the nurses from the hospital that took care of his grandfather, and...it wasn’t like Aoba was going to tell him no, right? He hated having to dim the light in Clear’s eyes.

So their wedding wasn’t small. Whatever!

Clear tried to talk Aoba into wearing a dress--it would complete the whole “wedding aesthetic”, he said--but Aoba said no. If it had been just him and Clear and a handful of other people, he probably would have, but not in front of everyone he had ever met.

Aoba made sure to tell Clear ahead of time that when the time came in the ceremony for them to kiss, Clear was _absolutely not_ to bend Aoba backwards or pick him up bridal-style or do any other kind of cheesy gesture that would embarrass Aoba to no end. Clear said he understood, but he was smiling when he said it, so Aoba didn’t believe him.

Predictably, Clear cried during the ceremony. He looked into Aoba’s eyes as he spoke the vows that he had obviously spent a lot of time thinking about, and the tears streaming down his face couldn’t be stopped (though he probably wouldn’t have stopped them, anyway). Aoba, on the other hand, didn’t cry when it was his turn. His voice shook a little bit, and his eyes were kind of watery, but he didn’t cry. That didn’t count.

When the minister told them they could kiss, Aoba elevated himself on his toes, smiling at Clear expectantly. Clear smiled, too, but then he dipped Aoba back over his arm and kissed him with all the tongue in the world. Aoba held onto the front of Clear's jacket for support, but then he realized that just made it look more passionate, so he looped his arms around his neck instead. A few people wolf-whistled as their kiss went on for several seconds longer than it probably should have. Once they had broken apart, Clear grabbed Aoba under the knees with his other arm and lifted him, cradling him as if he were a princess.

“There were two things I asked you not to do, and you did both of them," Aoba murmured, but he wasn’t really mad.

Later, while Aoba and Clear were dancing together at the reception, Tae asked to cut in.

"Granny..." Aoba whined, looking at Clear pointedly.

"What? Too good to dance with your own grandmother?"

"No, no, not at all!" Aoba said too-quickly, trying to evade her wrath. He kissed Clear on the cheek before twirling away with Tae. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Clear start to dance with Sei, so he didn't feel like he had totally abandoned him.

"So," Tae said, but she didn't continue her sentence.

"So," Aoba echoed, drawing the syllable out. He had expected Tae to be really slow and stiff, but she was a surprisingly skilled dancer, so Aoba let her lead.

"Both of my grandsons are gay."

"Y-Yeah, is that a problem?"

"It is! I'm not gonna have any great-grandkids!"

"That's not true, necessarily!"

"What does that mean?"

"We...could adopt, you know. Clear and I have talked about it, and we plan on trying to, someday."

"Sooner is better than later," she said ominously. "I won't be here much longer."

"Don't talk like that, Granny. You're gonna live forever!"

Tae cackled. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

Aoba looked around, eyes subconsciously scanning the room for Clear. Tae noticed what he was doing, and she let him go find him.

He eventually found him talking with some of Aoba's coworkers. They were obviously very drunk, and Clear obviously wasn't. He looked like he regretted talking to them in the first place.

"Hey! There he is!" The small group cheered. Aoba smiled and took Clear by the arm to pull him away.

"Wanna try dancing again? We've been interrupted so many times; it'd be nice to be able to get through an entire song."

Clear was delighted at the idea of having Aoba in his arms again, so he pulled Aoba in by the waist and started to sway their bodies to the music. Aoba put his hands on Clear's shoulders and followed his movements, trying not to step on his feet. They gradually drifted closer until their was no space between their bodies and they were basically hugging each other. They gazed into each other's eyes as they danced, and Aoba got a little choked up.

"What's wrong?" Clear asked, noticing Aoba's emotional change.

"Nothing," he assured, smiling. "I'm just really happy."

"I'm really happy, too! I get to spend the rest of my life with you! We're going to get old and feed birds and yell at teenagers together!” He grinned so hard that it looked like it hurt. “Isn’t that fantastic?"

Aoba laughed. "Yeah, it is."

"And when we introduce ourselves to people, we can tell them that we're husbands!" Clear twirled Aoba in a circle, then pulled him back against his chest again. "Aoba Seragaki is my husband! I can hardly believe it.”

“I can't believe you’re mine, either. There's nobody I'd rather get old and yell at teenagers with."

"You're going to make me cry, Aoba! I've already cried so much today."

"You always cry, Clear. It's doesn't take much."

Clear giggled in spite of himself. "It's only because you say such sweet things!"

"Really? I think it's because you're a baby."

"I'm _your_ baby," Clear cooed, pinching Aoba's cheek.

Aoba grimaced. "I want a divorce."

*     *     *

"Which one should go in the middle?"

"I like the one we have there already...but we should put the one from our wedding in the middle."

Aoba huffed. "We should just get a second frame. There are a bazillion other pictures from our wedding, and then there are the ones from our honeymoon. Maybe we should have more than two frames, actually."

"We can't put _all_ of the pictures from our honeymoon on the wall," Clear said with a sly grin.

"Obviously not! I don't need our friends and family seeing pictures of me with your dick in my mouth."

"There are pictures of me with your dick in my mouth, too."

"I know."

*     *     *

Aoba hadn’t been kidding when he told his granny that he and Clear planned on adopting. They knew it was a long process, so they got started on it a few months after their wedding, once their lives returned to normal.

“Based on your...situation,” the adoption agent said, “It would be better for each of you to apply separately. Very few single applicants are approved, so it would raise your likelihood of being chosen. I’m not making any promises, but ideally, this is the method I would suggest.”

Almost a year full of paperwork and home visits passed. They figured that, if either of them would be selected, it would be Aoba, based on his financial history. Neither of them were shocked when Aoba received a call from the agency, telling him to come back in for some good news.

They were shocked, however, when Clear got the same call a few days later.

 _”Two_ kids?” Aoba asked in disbelief after Clear had hung up the phone.

Clear shrugged. “I mean...most couples like us don’t even get one, so we should feel lucky!”

“I do! I do, I swear, it’s just… _two_ of them? Do you think we could handle that?”

“I don’t see why not.”

They went together to speak to the same agent again.

"Since you both were approved, and because you share the same residence, we've decided to assign you to these two children."

She placed two folders on the table, opening them up and discussing their history. Satsuki and Natsuki were twins that had been orphaned about a year ago. They were only four years old, so they hadn't exactly been aware of the massive change in their life when it happened, but it had obviously still affected them.

"If it feels like too much responsibility, you have no obligation to say yes right away--"

"Of course we say yes!" Clear cut in a little bit harshly.

Aoba wondered briefly why Clear was so passionate about it, but then he realized that Clear was technically an orphan, too, though his grandfather had stepped in to raise him.

"Mr. Seragaki? What do you think? Your opinion is important."

"I think...I mean, it's gonna be a lot to handle, right? But Clear knows what it's like to lose both parents, so I think he would be really good with them."

"And you're a twin, Aoba! You know how twins are."

Aoba chuckled. "That, too, I guess."

"Does this mean you'll go through with the adoption?"

Aoba reached for Clear's hand and squeezed it. "I guess it does."

"Wonderful." She explained that they would meet with the twins several times so they could get to know them first. She said it would make for a smoother transition.

"You can meet with them today, if you'd like."

The couple looked at each other. "Sure," Aoba said. "We don't have any plans for today."

She called the orphanage and asked them to arrange for a visit. Aoba was kind of nervous to meet them. What if they didn't like him? Or, worse...what if he didn't like them?

When they arrived at the orphanage, an employee led them to the room where the twins were and told them they had one hour to meet with them. They were met with two pairs of curious eyes peering at them from the play table in the middle of the room.

Aoba decided to start the introductions. "Hi! My name is Aoba, and this is Clear. We're going to be adopting you in a few weeks."

"I'm Satsuki," the twin sitting on the left said in a small voice. "She's Natsuki."

Natsuki held up a rough drawing of a purple cat. "Look what I drew!"

Clear sat down beside her on one of the small chairs around the child-sized table. "That's such a cute kitty!"

"I want a kitty, but I can't have one here."

"Aoba and I have a kitty at home!"

Natsuki perked up. "Really?"

"Yes! Her name is Puddles. We have a dog, too. His name is Ren."

Natsuki pushed the crayons towards him and handed him a piece of paper. "Draw them!"

Well, great. Clear was already bonding with one of the kids, while Aoba was still standing awkwardly in the doorway. He followed Clear's example and sat down beside Satsuki. She was pushing a toy car along the surface of the table.

"Do you like cars, Satsuki?"

"I guess."

"What else do you like?"

"Turtles."

"What about a turtle driving a car?"

Satsuki giggled and the sound made Aoba's heart feel warm. "Turtles can't drive!"

As Clear was driving them home later (because he had eventually got his license), they couldn't stop talking about how cute the girls were and how exciting it was that they were going to be parents.

"And now I'm not gonna be the only one calling you daddy," Aoba purred, walking his fingers up Clear's thigh.

Clear side-eyed him. "Maybe they were wrong to declare you fit to raise a child."

*     *     *

When the day finally came to bring Natsuki and Satsuki home with them, Aoba and Clear could hardly contain themselves. Clear had made sure to childproof their entire apartment, and they had gone shopping to make sure the twins would have everything they would need. They hadn’t bought any toys yet, though, because they didn’t want to be presumptuous; Aoba planned on taking the twins shopping and letting them pick out the toys they wanted. In all honesty, they probably knew them well enough to know what kinds of toys they would like, but Aoba figured they would enjoy the experience.

They arrived at the orphanage and filled out a few forms before the employee went and fetched the girls from their room. Natsuki and Satsuki walked out a few minutes later, toting a small wheeled suitcase behind them. Natsuki cheered and ran towards them with her arms extended. Clear scooped her up in his arms, swinging her around. She squealed with delight and kicked her legs in the air, and Aoba watched the joyful display until felt a tug at his pant leg, so he looked down, only to find Satsuki trying to get his attention.

“What is it?”

Satsuki chewed on her sleeve. "You're our mommy now?"

Aoba froze. It was his initial instinct to say no, but the more he thought about it, the less opposed to it he was. They would need to differentiate between the two of them somehow, right? And it wasn't like "mommy" had to be a gendered term or anything, so why not?

"We're both your daddies, technically, but you can call me mommy if you want."

Satsuki nodded. "Okay."

Clear picked her up and held her at his hip, so he was holding both children. "Are you excited to see your new home?"

“Yeah!” Natsuki cheered. “I wanna meet the kitty!”

Though Natsuki was enthusiastic, Satsuki didn't answer; she fidgeted with Clear's sleeve and looked at the ground.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

Aoba had never heard Clear use that pet name on anyone but him, and he was almost jealous for half a second.

"Are you gonna keep us?"

"What do you mean?" Aoba asked, tucking her hair behind her ear so he could see her face.

"Some parents send the kids back. I don’t wanna go back."

"Of course we're going to keep you," Clear assured. "We're your parents now, and we'll be your parents forever."

Satsuki’s eyes grew impossibly big, and she stared at Clear for a while. "Really?"

Clear nuzzled her with his forehead. "Yes."

Satsuki wrapped her little arms around Clear's neck and hugged him. "I love you."

Natsuki hugged him, too, smooshing her face against the side of his head. “I love daddy too!”

Clear was going to cry, wasn't he? Aoba watched his face carefully, noting how his lower lip started to quiver, even as he smiled. He squeezed his eyes shut and nuzzled his head down against theirs. "I love you, too."

Aoba whipped out his phone and took a picture. He knew Clear would want to see that. Once he had a few good ones, he slid it back in his pocket and enveloped the three of them in a hug.

Once they were home, they spent the afternoon unpacking the girls’ things and organizing their room the way they wanted it. Natsuki didn’t really mind what the room looked like--she was too preoccupied with Puddles and Ren. Satsuki was pretty assertive, though; Clear had to move the furniture around six times before she was satisfied. He was all sweaty by the time he was finished, and Aoba totally would have pounced had there not been two children in their home. Aoba may have been a parent, now, but he was still a human being with a pulse! There was nothing wrong with wanting Clear to bend him over the kitchen table and fuck him until he could hardly breathe. The fact that they had kids wouldn’t change the spark they had between them, right?

After they had put the twins to bed, though, Aoba couldn’t stop thinking about how it was going to affect their sex life. It was only eight o'clock, which was way too early for them to sleep, so they sat together on the couch and watched TV at a low volume.

"How long do you think it's going to be before we have time for sex again?"

Clear looked over at him. “We could do it right now, if you want.”

Aoba frowned. “I’m too tired now. Aren’t you?”

“Well...yes, maybe a little bit, but I’m sure we’ll be up for it later.”

“But what if we’re not?” Aoba blanched, starting to panic a little bit. “What if we never have sex again?”

"Calm down, Aoba,” Clear cooed, taking him into his arms and stroking his hair. “We'll just have to find the time! I'll make a schedule." He paused and kissed Aoba on the forehead. ”I love you, and you're still the most important thing in my life, so I'll do whatever it takes to keep you satisfied."

"You better."

Clear ended up working out a schedule that allotted forty minutes on weeknights and an hour every Saturday for lovemaking. They didn't have to do it if they didn't feel like it, he said, but the time was there if they wanted to use it, so long as they made sure the kids were asleep.

(Aoba made damn sure that they used it as often as possible.)

*     *     *

Koujaku and Noiz claimed to have no interest in having kids of their own, but they liked coming over to play with Natsuki and Satsuki. They were really cute, but they were kind of sassy, which Aoba supposed just made them cuter.

The four of them and the twins sat on the floor around their little play table, adorned in fake pearls and glittery hats. Clear also had a pair of bright purple cat-eye sunglasses on, and Aoba was wearing fairy wings (which Noiz made a stupid joke about).

Clear had actually made real tea, so they had a Real Tea Party. Natsuki was especially excited, but she ended up thinking the tea was gross, so Clear put some sugar in it for her. Aoba protested, saying that it was unhealthy, but Clear said it was fine every once in a while.

It was becoming very obvious who the fun parent was going to be.

Natsuki had taken a liking to Koujaku. She noticed his scars, but she didn't think they were scary; she thought they were pretty. She also liked his hair, and she showed that by tugging on it.

Noiz didn't feel left out, though; Satsuki liked to sit on his lap. Nobody really knew why. Aoba asked her once, but she didn’t really give an answer. So that’s where she was during their tea party: perched on top of Noiz’s folded legs, poking him in the face with a glittery wand.

Natsuki complained that she was hungry, and then Satsuki did, too, so Clear left to make them a snack. Koujaku followed, claiming he wanted to help, leaving Aoba and Noiz with the children.

“Is it weird having kids?” Noiz asked. “Especially this one. She’s really weird.”

“I can hear you,” Satsuki said. Noiz stuck his tongue out at her.

“It’s not weird. I mean, it’s different, not being just me and Clear anymore, but it’s still just me and Clear at the end of the day, right?”

“Do you guys still…?”

Aoba could feel his face burning all the way to his ears. “Yes! Of course we do. We can’t really be as...spontaneous about it as we used to be, but we still do.”

Noiz just grunted once, and then Clear and Koujaku came back in with two plates of apple slices, so the conversation shifted.

Once Koujaku and Noiz went home and the girls were asleep, Aoba and Clear went to their room to get ready for bed.

"You know what Koujaku told me when we were in the kitchen earlier?"

"What?"

"He said he wanted a child. He asked me what the adoption process was like."

Aoba’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Noiz sounded kinda interested in it, too.”

“What did he say?”

“He was asking me what it was like, and if we...still...had sex.”

Clear laughed. “That was one of his biggest concerns?”

“Yeah! I can totally see where he’s coming from.”

Clear hummed, probably in agreement. "Wouldn't it be nice if Koujaku and Noiz had kids, too? Then our kids could be friends!"

"That'd be nice," Aoba mused. "But then they'd probably leave their kids with us every time they wanted to be alone. We'd end up raising them."

The alarm on Clear's watch started to beep. He looked at the time and said, "It's nine-thirty. Do you want to have sex?"

Aoba frowned. "You could try to be a little more romantic, you know."

"Really?" Clear's eyes widened with interest. "You want me to be more romantic?"

"Um...maybe not _your_ definition of romantic. Just, like...what a normal person would do."

"I understand completely!" (Aoba doubted that he did.) He picked Aoba up and carried him to the hallway. "Give me ten minutes to get everything ready!" He subsequently shut the door in Aoba's face. Aoba heard the lock turn.

Aoba huffed and leaned against the wall, listening for any kind of activity on the other side of the door. Clear was remarkably quiet, though; Aoba couldn't hear a thing.

The door opened only eight minutes later and Clear poked his head out. "Come in! I'm finished!"

When Aoba re-entered the room, he first saw the thirty-odd candles burning. Then he noticed the rose petals on the bed (which looked like real rose petals--where did Clear get those?) and the soft sounds of Marvin Gaye playing in the background. The whole room smelled like vanilla, but it wasn't cloying enough to give Aoba a headache.

"You're gonna have to clean all this shit up," Aoba told him.

"I will, I promise! It's worth it if it makes you happy."

The atmosphere was nice (and so was the sex) but when they were finished, Clear had to spend nearly ten minutes rounding up the candles while Aoba dealt with the fifty thousand rose petals that had stuck to his sweaty skin.

As he watched Clear tidying up, Aoba noticed that he had a petal stuck to the back of his thigh, so he walked over to him and plucked it off. He tickled Clear's nose with it, saying, "You missed one!"

Clear smiled and kissed Aoba with more passion than he needed to. "Thank you."

Aoba stood on his toes and kissed Clear again, sliding a hand down his chest as he did. Clear held him around the waist in return, and by the time they pulled back, they were flushed and breathing heavily.

"We still have twenty more minutes," Clear whispered. Aoba grinned and pulled him back towards the bed.

*     *     *

On the twins’ first day of school, Clear insisted that they drive them instead of making them take the bus. After all, it was their first day of school ever, so he didn’t want them to be nervous! They would be able to take them and still make it to work on time, so Aoba said it was okay.

Many of the other parents seemed to have the same idea, too. Almost every child in the twins’ class was accompanied by at least one parent. What Aoba noticed, though, was that it was either a mother, or a father, or a mother _and_ a father, and every single one of them was occasionally glaring at him out of the corner of their eye.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have done this,” Aoba whispered to Clear, who was currently re-tying the ribbon in Natsuki’s hair.

“Why do you say that?”

“The other parents are looking at us.”

Aoba and Clear had already discussed the whole same-sex thing with their children, but that didn’t mean that the other kids would understand or be accepting of it. Aoba was worried that the twins would get bullied because of them.

“Don’t worry, Aoba. I’ve never let anyone get away with treating us differently because of the way we are, have I?”

That was true. Aoba couldn’t count on one hand the number of guys Clear had punched for using slurs towards them. The first time it had happened, Aoba was appalled to see such a blunt display of violence coming from his usually-gentle partner, but over time he had realized that Clear’s anger was fuelled by the desire to protect him. Clear only behaved like that when someone insulted Aoba, so after a while, Aoba stopped trying to prevent it.

Still, the line had to be drawn somewhere. "You’re not allowed to beat up a child!”

Clear put a hand to his own chest and gasped. “I would never!” He paused, then said in a quieter voice, "A parent, maybe, but not a child.”

Aoba elbowed him in the ribs, chuckling. "You're an asshole."

That afternoon, when Clear picked Aoba up from work, the twins were giggling excitedly in the backseat.

Aoba raised an eyebrow. "What's up with you?"

"Look! Look!"

"We didn't show daddy yet because we wanted both of you to see it. But now we can!"

A chubby little arm thrust a piece of paper at him. When Aoba took it and looked at it, he almost got a little choked up. It was a painting of their family: Clear and Aoba were in the middle, holding hands with a heart over their heads. Natsuki and Satsuki were on either side of them. There was also a brown blob and a blue blob which Aoba assumed to be Puddles and Ren.

"Oh my God," he whispered. "Clear, look!"

"I can't! I'm driving."

"But it's so cute!"

They stopped at a red light, so Clear took the opportunity to look over.

"Oh my gosh, that's adorable! It looks just like you, Aoba. Like a photograph."

Aoba loved his children and he would defend them within an inch of his life, but even he could see that they were terrible artists--most little kids were--so he knew that Clear was poking fun at him. He pinched Clear's nose and told him to shut up.

"Mommy! Don't swear!"

"What? I didn't swear!"

"Daddy says that 'shut up' is a swear word!"

Satsuki gasped in absolute horror. "Natsuki swore!"

"I did not! That's different!"

Clear laughed. "Mommy is allowed to say that because he's a grown-up, but you two can't. You're too little."

"How old do we have to be to swear?"

"One hundred years old."

"Mommy isn't that old!"

"He's getting there."

Aoba punched Clear in the bicep. "Stop making fun of me!"

*     *     *

“Have you brushed your teeth?” Clear asked. Satsuki and Natsuki smiled as wide as they could to show him that they had.

“Will you read us a story?” Natsuki asked.

“Yes, of course!” Clear picked her up and brought her over so they were all sitting on the same bed. Aoba hated it when he did that, because they almost always ended up falling asleep like that, and in the morning, one of them would be on the floor.

“Which one do you want us to read?” Aoba asked, looking through the storybooks on the shelf.

“Those books are boring!” Satsuki grumbled, crossing her arms.

Aoba sighed. “They can’t _all_ be boring, sweetie.”

"They are!"

“Why don’t I tell you a story from my imagination, then?” Clear suggested.

“Is it a good story?”

“It’s the best story in the whole world!”

Satsuki eyed him with suspicion. "Alright."

Aoba sat on the bed again so that their kids were in between the two of them. Even he was curious about Clear's story.

"Once upon a time," Clear began, "There was a little boy who was very sad. His parents were gone, so he lived with his grandfather, but they were very poor. As the boy got older, he felt more and more alone, like he didn't have anyone to take care of him. To make matters worse, his grandfather got sick, so the boy had to give up on his dreams so he could work in order for him to get better."

"This story is sad."

"It gets better! One day, the most beautiful princess in the whole world came up to him and decided to help him. He became his friend and used his princess magic so he didn't have to work so hard."

"The princess was a boy?" Natsuki asked.

"Yes! Boys can be princesses, too."

Satsuki swung her feet from the edge of the bed. "So what happened after that?"

"The princess was so kind and selfless, and the boy didn't understand why. There was nothing special about him, and he didn't think he deserved the princess's generosity, but the princess assured him that he did."

Aoba caught Clear's eye and smiled at him. Clear smiled back, gazing at him warmly.

"What about the boy's grandpa?"

"As much as the boy tried to make him better, it didn't work. Not even the princess's magic could save him. His grandfather died, and the boy was very sad, but he had the princess by his side so he didn't feel like he was alone. They loved each other very much and they knew that as long as they were together, they would be okay."

"They were in love?" Satsuki asked. "Did they get married?"

"They did!" Clear chirped. "And they lived happily ever after."

Satsuki yawned, blinking sleepily. "Was that a true story?"

"Kind of," Aoba said. "But don't worry about that! You two need to go to sleep."

Clear carried Natsuki over to her own bed and tucked her in. He and Aoba took turns kissing them goodnight and left the room. Once the door was mostly shut (Satsuki liked it left open a few inches to let some light in), Aoba looped his arms around Clear's neck and leaned in so he could speak at a low volume.

"That story was really sweet," he murmured. "But you didn't need to say that I was a princess."

"I said you were the most beautiful princess in the whole world," Clear corrected. "Which you are." He pulled Aoba in by the waist and rocked them softly from side to side so that they were dancing in the silent hallway.

Aoba smiled, letting his eyelids droop a little bit. "Will you still think I'm beautiful when I'm old?"

"Of course I will," Clear said with a serious expression. "Even if you lose all your hair and shrivel up like a raisin, I'll still love you."

"But you won't wanna fuck me, will you?"

"I'll be old, too! It goes both ways."

Aoba narrowed his eyes. "Your hair's already white, so you won't look that different."

Clear chuckled, genuinely amused. He held Aoba tighter and said, quietly, "I'm never going to stop wanting you. You'll look different, but you'll still be Aoba, so it will be impossible for me not to be attracted to you."

"Good." Aoba smiled again and pecked Clear on the nose. "I don't know if I'll still want you when your abs are gone, though."

Clear's eyes filled with panic and he jerked back a few inches. "What?!"

"I'm joking, I'm joking! Calm down!"

"That wasn't funny!"

When they eventually crawled into their big, fluffy, expensive bed that Clear was able to pay for because of his fancy job, they curled up together, listening to the sounds of their breathing. Aoba may have had to take care of Clear for a while, when he needed it badly, but now Clear was able to stand on his own and be there for his family to rely on. It was obvious that it meant a lot to Clear to be able to provide for them, and Aoba couldn't help but smile to himself when he thought about it. While Clear had definitely worked hard to get where he was, Aoba had been the one to reach out to him and pull him out of the bad situation he was in. He didn't regret any of it.

"Clear?" Aoba nudged him with his foot.

"Yes, Aoba?"

"Talking to you on the sidewalk was the best decision I ever made."

Clear squeezed Aoba in a hug so tight that neither of them could breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK GOD IT'S OVER
> 
> i just want to thank everyone for commenting and bookmarking and leaving kudos!! it really means a lot to me to hear your feedback and get your encouragement :^) i have no idea how this fic wound up at 18 chapters (probably b/c of all the porn??? lmao) but im just....im just so glad i managed to rein it in at 18 omg it could have gone on forever.
> 
> but this is not the last you will hear from me!! i have another fic in the works and it'll actually have a structured plot so i wont be able to accidentally fit 3 new chapters in between ones ive already written lmao (that is what happened with this one)
> 
> anyway thank you so much for reading!! i hope you enjoyed it :^)

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, hmu on tumblr @ skittybitty!


End file.
